EX-LIBRIS 


Henrv  H.  Bucher 


"  /  saiv  pci'ping   through    the   leaves   a    black   fierce  face 
looking   at   usJ" 


In  African  Forest 
and  Jungle 


By 
Paul   Du   Chaillu 

Author  of 

King  Mombo,"    "The  World  of  the  Great  Forest,"    "  The  Viking  Age,' 

"  The  Land  of  the  Long  Night,"    "  Ivar  the  Viking,"    *<  The  Land  of  the 

Midnight    Sun,"     "Explorations    in    Equatorial    Africa,"     "Stories 

of  the  Gorilla  Country,"    "Wild    Life   under    the   Equator," 

"Lost    in  the  Jungle,"     "My   Apingi    Kingdom," 

"The  Country  of  the  Dwarfs,"  etc.,  etc. 


Illustrated  by  Victor  Perard 


New  York  ,, 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
1903 


Copyright,  igoj 
By  Charles  Scribner's  Sons 


Published  September y  igoj 


UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    JOHN    WILSON 
AND    SON     •    CAMBRIDGE,   U,  S.  A. 


Contents 


CHAPTER    I 

Page 


A  canoe-voyage  to  the  country  of  Rotembo  the  Chief — A  toilet  of 
ceremony  —  Rotembo' s  grotesque  costume — A  formal  reception 
—  Speeches  of  Rotembo  and  myself  —  A  dance  in  my  honor  — 
My  presents  to  the  chief —  We  become  good  friends    .... 


CHAPTER    II 

I  propose  to  go  into  the  forest  to  hunt  — Rotembo  promises  me  three 
gifts  —  Rogala,  the  famous  hunter,  the  first  of  them  —  Description 
of  Rogala  — Andekko,  the  dog,  the  second  gift  —  Ndova,  the 
monkey,  the  third  —  How  Ndova  was  captured  and  reared  —  I 
give  Rotembo  some  of  my  hair 


CHAPTER    III 

Preparations  for  departure — Off  for  forest  and  jungle  — A  herd 
of  elephants  —  We  camp  for  the  night  —  Ndova  calls  monkeys  of 
his  tribe  within  range  —  We  kill  two  of  them  —  Feeding  on  roast 
monkey  —  A  deserted  house  —  A  story  of  witchcraft .... 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  home  of  Rogala  —  His  hunting-trophies  —  A  weird  spot  — 
Aspect  of  the  surrounding  forest  —  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  — 
Leopards  in  the  neighborhood 30 

V 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    V 

Page 
Wc  build  a  leopard  trap — A  night  on  the  watch  —  The   beast   ap- 
pears at  last — Caught  in  the  trap  and   soon  despatched  —  Her 
mate   killed   the  following  night  —  Excitement  of  Andekko  and 
Ndova 36 

CHAPTER    VI 

My  hunters  and  I  become  great  friends — Andekko  and  Ndova  grow 
fond  of  mc  —  We  take  Ndova  into  the  forest —  He  calls  monkeys 
to  us  again  —  Andekko\s  prowess  as  a  hunter  —  A  female  gorilla 
and  her  baby  —  We  kill  the  mamma  and  Andekko  kills  the  baby     41 

CHAPTER    VII 

Fight  between  monkey  tribes,  nkagos  and  mondis  —  My  gun  puts 
both  sides  to  fliglit  —  A  visit  from  the  bashikouay  ants  —  Every- 
thing flies  before  them  —  We  drive  them  off  with  firebrands  and 
boiling  water 49 

CHAPTER    VIII 

Rogala's  wife's  parrot — I  use  it  as  a  decoy  —  Parrots  prove  tough 
eating  —  The  ngozos  grow  wary  —  Shinshooko  discovers  ele- 
phants in  the  neighborhood  —  We  go  after  them  and  kill  two      .      54 


CHAPTER    IX 

Wc  build  a  fortified  camp  in  the  depths  of  the  forest  —  Structure  of 
the  camp  —  Laying  in  stores  of  provisions  —  Koola  nuts  —  Source 
of  my  influence  over  the  natives 62 

CHAPTER    X 

I  take  a  swim  in  a  crystal  pool  —  Driven  out  by  a  huge  snake  —  I 
kill  the  snake  —  Camp-fire  talk  —  How  to  hunt  —  Importance  of 
silence  and  noiseless  movements 68 

vi 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XI 

Pagf 
Another  excursion  —  Footprints  of  gorillas  (nginas)  —  Listening  to 
the  monsters'  roaring  —  Two  of  them  calling  to  each  other  — 
They  gradually  draw  near  to  each  other  and  to  us  —  They  meet 
and  we  sleep  in  the  forest — Sudden  appearance  of  the  male  ngina 
—  Killing  of  the  ngina  and  his  mate 72 

CHAPTER    XII 

Ndova  as  a  test  of  poisonous  fruits  and  berries  —  He  discovers  a  bee- 
hive —  A  feast  of  honey  —  Andekko's  usefulness  in  hunting  — 
Koola  nuts — We  kill  two  wild  boars — Capture  of  a  baby 
*<man  of  the  woods'' 80 

CHAPTER    XIII 

Ndova' s  thoughtfulness —  His  winning  and  sportive  ways  —  He  feels 
lonely  and  calls  for  other  monkeys  to  come  to  him  — A  troop 
of  eleven  appear  —  I  frighten  them  away 91 

CHAPTER    XIV 

Uneasiness  of  Rogala  —  He  fears  the  new  moon  may  see  and  bewitch 
him  —  He  builds  a  small  house  and  hides  in  it  —  He  has  an 
attack  of  fever,  which  he  ascribes  to  witchcraft 96 

CHAPTER    XV 

Rogala  leaves  the  camp  —  Non-appearance  of  Shinshooko  and 
Alapai  — What  happened  to  Rogala  on  his  journey  —  He  returns 
after  four  days  with  a  powerful  mondah  which  he  buries  before 
the  camp 103 

CHAPTER   XVI 

We  discover  a  pair  of  nshiego-nkengos — Description  of  them  — 
Capture  of  a  young  one  —  He  makes  friends  with  Ndova  and 
Andekko  —  His  speedy  death n* 

vii 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XVII 

Page 
My  reckoning  lost  —  Rogala  and  I  go  to  an  island  where  I  can  see 
the  heavens  —  We  reach  it  by  a  raft  and  build  a  house  —  Tur- 
tle's eggs  in  profusion  .      .  119 

CHAPTER    XVIII 

Appearance  of  the  southern  heavens  at  night  — Homesickness  —  I 
take  several  observations  —  Astonishment  of  Rogala  —  Find 
that  I  am  ninety  miles  south  of  the  equator 125 


CHAPTER    XIX 

We  cross  the  river  and  hide  our  axes —  Ndova's  fright  at  a  python 
—  Andekko  finds  a  leopard's  lair  —  We  capture  two  leopard 
cubs  —  A  visit  from  savages  —  They  are  frightened  by  my 
Waterbury   clock 131 

CHAPTER   XX 

Leave  the  island  for  our  camp —  Monkeys  among  the  trees —  Find 
everything  untouched  —  I  get  lost  following  nginas  —  Am  lucky 
enough  to  find  koola  nuts  —  Camp  under  the  koola  tree  — 
Another  night  in  the  forest 139 

CHAPTER    XXI 

Plantain  peelings  to  cat  —  Human  footprints  lead  me  to  a  village  — 
The  villagers  evidently  warlike  —  Admitted  within  the  gate  — 
Awe  of  the  pcojilc  at  sight  of  the  Oguizi 145 

CHAPTER    XXII 

Alarm  of  my  hunters  at  my  absence  —  Rogala  sets  out  to  search  for 
nu-  —  His  superstitious  terrors — Consults  his  ogana,  or  idol  — 
Finds  my  traces  at  last  and  follows  me  to  the  village  .      .      .      .      150 

viii 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XXIII 


Page 


Witchcraft  proceedings  of  the  Bakalais  —  Two  of  the  class  **  be- 
witched" —  A  negro  albino  —  The  idol  Makambo  —  Her  dread 
appearance  —  Return  to  camp  —  Monkeys  overrun  the  camp  — 
I  drive  them  off —  Escape  of  Ndova  —  His  unexpected  return    .      154 

CHAPTER    XXIV 

We  come  to  the  end  of  our  provisions  —  Antelope  skin  boiled  fur- 
nishes us  a  repast  —  Ndova  decoys  monkeys  and  we  soon  get 
food  enough  —  Alapai  finds  fruits  and  nuts  also 160 

CHAPTER    XXV 

I  find  strange  footprints  on  the  banks  of  a  rivulet  —  Rogala  and  I 
set  off  in  pursuit  —  We  find  a  man  under  a  koola  tree —  Surprise 
and  capture  him  —  Terror  of  our  captive  —  We  take  him  to 
camp  and  discover  he  is  a  cannibal 164 

CHAPTER    XXVI 

Ndova  falls  sick  —  Stung  by  a  scorpion  or  bitten  by  a  centipede  — 
Refuses  to  eat  —  Grows  weaker  in  spite  of  all  our  care  and  nurs- 
ing —  One  morning  I  find  him  dead  —  We  make  a  coffin  for 
him  and  bury  him  in  the  forest 173 

CHAPTER   XXVII 

I  go  hunting  in  the  forest  with  Andekko  —  Disappearance  of  the  dog 
—  Sounds  of  a  fierce  conflict  —  I  find  Andekko  fighting  with  a 
mandrill  —  He  kills  his  enemy,  but  dies  of  his  wounds  —  Buried 
in  the  forest 178 

CHAPTER    XXVIII 

Our  provisions  fail  —  Attacked  again  by  bashikouays  —  Release  of 
Akenda-Mbani  from  his  fetters  —  He  proves  a  good  trapper  — 
**  Gouamba  "  —  My  waking  visions  —  Another  hunting  expe- 
dition—  We  kill  two  monkeys,  then  starve  again      .      .      .      .      181 

ix 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    XXIX 

Page 
Decide   to   break   up  our  camp   and    return  —  Arrival  at  Rogala's 

home  —  I  make  myself  a  pair  of  skin  trousers  —  Departure  for 
Rotembo's  village  —  Our  grand  reception  and  succeeding  festiv- 
ities—  Rotembo's  promise  —  Farewell 189 


List   of  Illustrations 


"  I  saw  peeping  through  the  leaves  a  black  fierce  face  look- 
ing at  us  " 

The  meeting  with  Rotembo Fad 

Rogala  and  Andekko 

Ndova's  mother  tries  to  carry  him  away  into  the  forest 

*'  We  raised  our  guns  and    aimed   at  the  two  biggest 
white-nosed  ones  and  fired  " 

*<  She  looked  at  me  in  fear  and  trembling,  and  she  and 
the  children  ran  to  hide" 

*<The  leopard  was  slowly  crawling  near"      .... 

"  We  fired  and  brought  him  down  " 

**  Boiling  water  and  hot  ashes  were  thrown  upon  the  ants 
and  we  put  brands  across  their  path  " 

<<  Suddenly  the  bull  made  for  the  river  "         .... 

*'  Gun  in  hand,  I  watched  for  him  to  swim  to   the   sur- 
face of  the  water" 

*<  He  put  his  nose  close  to  her  face  and  moaned  pitifully  " 

**  Soon  I  saw  their  heads  peeping  over  the  palisades"  . 

Rogala  and  his  idol 

'*The    two    nshiego-nkengos    had    their    backs  turned 
towards  us,  and  were  eating  pineapples" 

**When  the  raft   was   ready   Rogala,  Ndova,  and  An- 
dekko crossed  to  the  island  " 

xi 


Frontispiece 
ng  page  4 
\i 
18 

26 

32 
44- 

52 
58 

70 
88 

94 
98 

114 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

<'  When  I  was  ready  to  take  observations,  I  seated  my- 
self cross-legged  before  the  artificial  horizon"  .      .     Facing  page  128 

<'  Roi^ala  came  out   of  the  den  holding  two   little  live 

leopards  by  the  neck  " "        "136 

**  Clearly  this  village  belonged  to  a  warlike  tribe,  whose 

people  were  always  fighting " "        <<      146 

*<When  I   saw   him,    I  came  towards  him,  and  in  an 

instant  we  were  in  each  other's  arms  "     ...  "        "152 

*<  Suddenly  Rogala  uttered  a  terrific  war-cry  and   ran 

towards  the  man " *'        "     168 

'<  He  ate  with  us,  and  consequently  had  the  same  food  "  '<        <'      174 

**  Andekko  had  pinned  the  mandrill  down  and  they  were 

fighting  savagely " '*        "     180 

**  At  the   end   of  the   day  I   had    made   a  pair  of  skin 

trousers" **        "190 


Xll 


In  African   Forest  and  Jungle 


IN   AFRICAN 
FOREST    AND  JUNGLE 


CHAPTER    I 

A  CANOE-VOYAGE  TO  THE  COUNTRY  OF  ROTEMBO 
THE  CHIEF—  A  TOILET  OF  CEREMONY  —  ROTEMBO's 
GROTESQUE  COSTUME  — A  FORMAL  RECEPTION  — 
SPEECHES  OF  ROTEMBO  AND  MYSELF— A  DANCE  IN 
MY  HONOR  — MY  PRESENTS  TO  THE  CHIEF  — WE 
BECOME    GOOD     FRIENDS 

THE  canoe  that  took  me  from  King  Mombo  to 
Rotembo  the  Chief  was  a  dug-out  made  of  a 
huge  tree,  and  was  of  great  length.  On  its  prow  was 
carved  the  head  of  a  growling  leopard.  It  was  pad- 
dled by  forty  men.  Rikimongani,  the  nephew  of 
King  Mombo,  steered,  and  had  the  stick  Omemba 
(the  snake)  with  him  to  show  that  he  carried  the 
message  of  his  uncle  King  Mombo  to  Rotembo 
the  Chief 

Near  the  prow  were  two  men  who  beat  two  tom- 
toms furiously  almost  all  the  time,  which  was  to  show 
that  they  were  on  an  important  mission. 

The  sun  was  very  hot,  and  the  heat  was  intense. 
The  black  oily  skins  of  the  men  shone  as  if  they  had 
I  I 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

been  eelskins.  The  river  banks  were  lined  with  man- 
grove trees,  supported  on  their  tall  roots,  and  as  the 
tide  was  low,  we  could  see  multitudes  of  oysters  grow- 
ing round  them. 

We  passed  at  last  the  region  of  the  mangrove 
trees,  which  only  grow  where  the  tide  is  felt  and 
where  the  banks  of  the  rivers  are  flat.  Then  the 
banks  of  the  Ogobai  river  became  hilly  and  clad 
with  the  trees  of  the  forest  to  their  very  top. 
Here  and  there  a  flock  of  gray  parrots  with  red 
tails  were  feeding  on  fruits,  or  a  troop  of  monkeys 
was  seen. 

The  following  day,  as  we  were  approaching  the  vil- 
lage of  Rotembo  the  Chief,  we  landed,  and  the  men 
made  their  toilet  so  as  to  appear  at  their  best  when 
they  arrived  at  the  village  of  Rotembo. 

Rikimongani  put  a  shirt  on,  and  a  high  silk  hat  — 
this  was  the  costume  he  wore  on  state  occasions.  He 
was  the  best  dressed  man  of  the  company. 

Then  we  re-embarked,  and  as  we  paddled  the  men 
began  to  sing,  and  to  beat  the  tomtoms  furiously. 
Soon  the  village  of  Rotembo  came  in  sight.  Then  the 
men  sang  louder  than  before,  and  their  song  was  — 

**  We  come  with  the  great  Oguizi, 
The  great  friend  of  King  Mombo, 
To  Rotembo  the  great  Chief;" 
2 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

and  they  repeated  these  words  over  and  over.  They 
began  to  fire  guns,  thus  showing  that  they  were  on  a 
great  mission  and  that  it  was  an  occasion  worth  wasting 
powder  for. 

As  we  came  opposite  the  village  of  Rotembo,  we 
suddenly  turned  towards  the  land,  with  the  head  of 
our  canoe  facing  the  village.  Rikimongani  stood  up 
now  so  that  the  people  on  shore  could  recognize  him. 
We  landed  in  the  midst  of  singing,  tomtom-beating, 
and  gun-firing. 

As  my  paddlers  jumped  out  of  the  canoe,  they 
shouted  to  the  great  number  of  people  that  had 
come  to  look  at  us  :  ^'  We  are  men  !  We  are  men  ! 
We  have  come  with  the  great  Oguizi."  Then  all 
became  silent,  and  we  passed  through  the  people 
walking  until  we  came  to  a  large  structure  with  a 
roof  supported  by  pillars.  There  we  waited  for 
Rotembo  the  Wise,  surrounded  by  hundreds  of 
villagers. 

Soon  we  heard  the  noise  of  the  kendo,  a  rude  iron 
bell,  the  emblem  of  chiefs.  Rotembo  was  coming. 
As  he  rang  it,  he  invoked  the  spirits  of  his  ancestors 
to  be  with  him,  and  soon  I  saw  his  tall  erect  form 
walking  towards  us. 

He  kept  beating  the  kendo,  and  at  last  came  under 
the  great  shed  and  walked  towards  the  stool  that  was 

3 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

next  to  mine,  then  looked  at    me    without  saying  a 
word  and  seated  himself. 

Rotembo  was  dressed  with  a  waistcoat,  a  shirt,  and 
an  old  silk  hat,  which  to  judge  by  its  shape  and  shab- 
biness  must  have  been  at  least  twenty-five  years  old. 
He  was  covered  with  mondahs,  or  charms,  that  he 
believed  had  the  power  of  preventing  any  harm  from 
coming  to  him. 

Then  Rikimongani,  with  Omemba,  the  stick  of  King 
Mombo,  in  his  hand,  delivered  the  words  of  King 
Mombo  to  his  uncle,  saying : 

"  My  uncle  King  Mombo,  who  loves  you  dearly, 
sends  the  Oguizi  to  you.  You  must  take  care  of 
him,  give  him  food  and  water  and  all  he  asks  of  you. 
Let  him  go  into  the  forest  and  hunt,  and  give  him  the 
best  hunters  that  you  have.  Let  him  have  his  own 
way,  and  when  he  gets  tired  of  the  country,  give  him 
people,  as  I  have  done,  to  take  him  where  he  wants 
to  go." 

Upon  this  Rotembo  got  up  and  said  :  "  It  was 
kind  of  my  kinsman  King  Mombo  to  send  to  me  the 
great  Oguizi.  I  will  do  what  King  Mombo  has  told 
mc  to  do."  Then  addressing  me,  he  said  :  "  Oguizi, 
we  have  heard  of  you.  Your  fame  is  great  all  over 
the  land.  You  are  known  as  the  good  Oguizi.  I 
want  you  to  love  me  as  you  love  King  Mombo." 

4 


The  meeting  with   Rotembo. 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST    AND   JUNGLE 

"Rotembo,  great  Chief/'  I  replied,  "  I  wish  to  go 
and  live  in  the  forest.  I  desire  to  kill  all  the  wild 
beasts  I  can  and  stuff  them.  I  want  to  kill  three  or 
four  of  every  kind  of  all  the  birds  of  the  country  and 
stuff  them.  I  want  to  catch  all  the  butterflies  and 
insects  I  can  and  keep  them.  I  wish  to  take 
them  to  the  land  of  the  Oguizis,  and  show  there 
the  creatures  seen  in  the  great  forest  where  the  black 
man  lives." 

Rotembo's  eyes  seemed  to  become  twice  as  large  as 
they  were  before  when  he  heard  me  speak  in  this 
manner.     He  looked  at  me  with  wonder  and  awe. 

I  said  to  him  :  "  I  mean  what  I  say,  and  when  you 
see  me  return  from  the  forest  you  will  find  that  I  told 
you  the  truth  and  several  canoes  will  be  required  for 
the  skins  of  the  animals   I   shall   collect." 

"  You  shall  go  into  the  forest,"  said  Rotembo, 
"  and  stay  with  my  slaves  or  people  that  are  living 
there." 

Then,  in  presence  of  all  the  people  of  his  village, 
he  presented  me  with  a  goat,  six  chickens,  and  nine 
eggs,  and  a  number  of  bunches  of  plantain.  Here 
an  egg  has  the  same  value  as  a  chicken,  for,  as 
the  people  say,  out  of  the  egg  comes  the  chicken. 
These  presents  showed  that   I   was  welcomed. 

Rotembo  was  the  chief  of  one  of  the  clans  that  com- 

5 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

posed  his  tribe,  and  in  case  of  war  his  people,  scat- 
tered in  a  goodly  number  of  small  villages,  could 
muster   many   warriors. 

Rotembo  was  tall,  walked  very  erect,  and  had  a 
commanding  appearance.  His  hair  was  white  ;  several 
ugly  scars  told  of  his  warlike  character  and  experiences 
in  days  gone  by.  When  young  he  loved  war,  and  the 
people  feared  him.  Now  that  he  had  become  old  he 
loved  peace,  and  his  neighbors  and  people  were  happy 
on  that  account. 

In  the  midst  of  vociferous  cheers  he  put  his  kendo, 
the  emblem  of  a  chieftain,  upon  my  left  shoulder ; 
then  said  with  a  loud  voice  :  "  During  the  time  you 
stay  with  me  you  will  be  our  chief;  we  will  all  obey 
you."  After  these  words  the  tomtoms  beat  furiously, 
and  guns  were  fired. 

The  speech-making  being  over,  my  men  went  to 
our  canoe  and  brought  back  the  goods  I  had  with  me. 
I  had  come  to  Rotembo  rich,  for  I  had  brought  twenty 
brass  kettles,  one  hundred  copper  rods,  a  goodly 
number  of  bunches  of  beads,  looking-glasses,  fire 
steel  and  flints,  files,  and  my  "  precious  box,"  which  I 
valued  more  than  everything  else  I  possessed,  for  in 
that  box  were  the  instruments  and  books  which 
helped  me  to  know  my  latitude  and  longitude,  and 
the  days  of  the  week  and  of  the   month   when   I  had 

6 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST  AND   JUNGLE 

forgotten  them,  which  was  not  uncommon  after  attacks 
of  fever. 

That  evening  we  had  a  great  dance,  given  in  my 
honor.  Rotembo  himself  danced  before  me  in  a  most 
eccentric  manner,  making  great  contortions.  His 
people  applauded  him  vociferously.  The  women 
danced  also. 

The  following  evening,  when  every  one  was  asleep, 
Rotembo  came  with  Oyaya,  his  head  wife,  to  get  the 
presents  I  had  for  him.  He  also,  like  all  the  other 
chiefs  to  whom  I  made  presents,  implored  me  not  to 
tell  anyone  of  the  things  I  gave  him. 

After  a  few  days'  feasting,  King  Mombo*s  people 
returned  to  their  country.  Rotembo  and  I  became 
very  great  friends  in  a  short  time.  He  came  often  to 
see  me,  for  he  was  always  delighted  to  hear  my  musi- 
cal box  and  Waterbury  clock  talk  to  me.  He  Hked 
to  see  my  matches  start  fire  suddenly,  and  he  always 
wondered  at  my  magnet.  Once  in  a  while  I  would 
give  him  little  presents  which  he  put  in  the  bag  he 
carried  on  his  shoulder  and  which  contained  his  small 
idol.  No  one  ever  thought  that  in  the  bag  were 
bunches  of  beads  and   various  other  trinkets. 


CHAPTER    II 

I  PROPOSE  TO  GO  INTO  THE  FOREST  TO  HUNT  — 
ROTEMBO  PROMISES  ME  THREE  GIFTS  —  ROGALA, 
THE  FAMOUS  HUNTER,  THE  FIRST  OF  THEM  —  DE- 
SCRIPTION OF  ROGALA  — ANDEKKO,  THE  DOG,  THE 
SECOND  GIFT—  NDOVA,  THE  MONKEY,  THE  THIRD 
—  HOW  NDOVA  WAS  CAPTURED  AND  REARED  —  I  GIVE 
ROTEMBO   SOME  OF  MY   HAIR. 

ONE  day  after  I  had  been  in  the  village  some  time, 
being  in  the  house  of  Rotembo,  I  said  to  him  : 
"  I  have  been  with  you  quite  a  while,  and  I  wish  now 
to  go  far  into  the  forest.  I  wish  you  to  give  me  a 
man  whom  you  trust,  a  great  hunter,  who  is  not  afraid 
of  danger  and  who  can  face  with  his  gun  the  most 
ferocious  beasts  of  the  country.  He  and  I  will  live 
together  in  the  forest." 

Rotembo  looked  at  me  with  great  astonishment,  for 
he  wondered  why  I  wished  to  go  and  live  in  the  forest 
by  myself  with  only  one  man. 

He  remained  silent  for  a  minute  or  two,  thinking 
deeply  ;  then  he  said  :  "  Oguizi,  I  will  give  you  three 
gifts  to  go  with  you  in  the  forest." 

"  What  are  they  ?  "  I   asked. 

8 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

"  I  will  not  tell  you  now,"  he  replied,  "  but  you 
will  know  when  they  are  before  you." 

Then  we  separated,  I  wondering  what  were  to  be 
the  three  gifts  Rotembo  was  to  give  me. 

Four  days  passed  by,  and  on  the  fifth,  while  I  was 
seated  by  the  side  of  Rotembo,  a  strange-looking  man 
came  before  him,  and  bending  very  low  took  hold  of 
his  foot  and  said  :  "  To  do  your  bidding  your  faithful 
slave  has  come." 

I  looked  at  the  man  with  great  curiosity,  and  learned 
that  his  name  was  Rogala  and  that  he  was  one  of  the 
most  famous  hunters  in  the  country. 

Rogala  was  of  medium  height  and  exceedingly  well 
proportioned.  His  legs  and  arms  were  very  muscular 
and  as  hard  as  wood.  His  chest  was  broad,  and  his 
hands  and  feet  were  small,  — a  very  common  occurrence 
among  the  people  of  the  forest.  His  eyes  were  full 
of  fire  and  daring.  He  had  a  fighting  chin,  and  he 
appeared  to  be  about  forty  years  old.  Scars  upon  one 
of  his  legs  told  where  a  leopard  had  once  wounded 
him.  He  wore  a  huge  head-dress  of  eagle's  feathers. 
His  eyelids  were  painted  red,  and  a  red  stripe  from 
the  nose  upward  divided  his  forehead  in  two  parts. 
The  face  was  painted  white,  and  on  each  side  of  the 
mouth  were  two  round  red  spots.  He  was  covered 
with    mondahs,  or  charms.      One  of  these   protected 

9 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

him  against  witchcraft;  another  made  him  invulnerable 
against  bullets,  spears,  or  poisoned  arrows  —  in  a  word, 
every  one  of  them  protected  him  against  some  evil  or 
other. 

Rotembo  said  to  me :  "I  can  trust  Rogala  more 
than  any  other  man  in  the  country.  I  bought  him 
when  he  was  quite  young,  and  he  has  forgotten 
the  language  of  his  tribe.  He  faces  without  fear  the 
ngina  (gorilla),  the  elephant,  the  leopard,  and  the 
fiercest  bear  of  the  country.  He  has  killed  during 
his  life  more  than  one  hundred  elephants  and  he  has 
kept  all  their  tails  as  proofs.  The  number  of  hippo- 
potami that  have  fallen  under  his  gun  is  very  great ; 
the  necklace  I  wear  round  my  neck  is  made  of  the 
canines  of  some  of  the  leopards  he  has  killed." 

I  counted  forty-eight  of  them;  so  Rogala  had  killed 
twelve  leopards  for  the  chief's  necklace.  He  him- 
self wore  one  with  twenty-four  canines ;  so  before 
me  were  the  witnesses  of  eighteen  leopards  that  he 
had  killed. 

As  I  looked  at  Rogala,  I  said  to  myself:  "  He  is 
just  the  kind  of  man  I  should  like  to  take  into  the 
forest  with   me." 

"  Rogala  is  one  of  the  three  gifts  I  have  promised 
you,**  said  Rotembo. 

I  thanked  the  chief  for  the  gift  of   Rogala,  where- 

10 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

upon  he  said  to  him :  "  You  know  that  I  have  always 
treated  you  well.  Several  times  when  I  wanted  to 
marry  the  daughters  of  chiefs  they  said,  '  Only  upon 
one  condition  can  you  marry  my  daughter,  and  that 
is,  that  you  give  me  Rogala.'  I  always  refused  them, 
for  I  would  not  part  with  you." 

I  did  not  wonder  at  it,  for  if  Rogala  had  killed  over 
one  hundred  elephants,  the  barter  of  their  tusks  had 
brought  wealth  to  Rotembo. 

"  I  have  given  you  to  the  Oguizi  while  he  is  in  my 
country,"  continued  the  chief  "  You  must  take  care 
of  him  as  you  do  of  me.  You  must  follow  him  in 
the  forest.  You  must  sleep  by  his  side.  You  must 
face  the  wild  beasts  with  him,  and  show  him  that 
Rogala*s  heart  knows  no  fear.  Put  no  shame  on  me 
by  running  away  before  danger ;  if  you  do  you  might 
just  as  well  die  in  the  jaws  of  a  wild  beast,  for  I 
myself  will  kill  you.  He  is  my  Oguizi,  and  I  love 
him.     See  that  he  is  never  hungry  or  thirsty." 

While  the  chief  was  talking,  Rogala  listened  rever- 
ently. When  Rotembo  had  done  speaking,  Rogala 
said  :  "  Chief,  the  best  of  masters,  Rogala  always  does 
what  you  order  him  to  do.  I  will  do  all  you  say, 
and  follow  the  Oguizi  wherever  he  goes,  and  live  with 
him  in  the  great  forest  and  hunt  with  him.  I  will 
take  care  of  him  just  as  if  he  were  my  sweetheart." 

II 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

"  Rogala,"  said  I,  "  I  will  be  your  friend.  When 
we  get  into  the  forest,  we  will  be  like  two  men  who 
are  born  the  same  day."  Among  the  Africans  of  the 
great  forest,  when  two  men  are  born  the  same  day, 
they   are   foster  brothers. 

"  Good  indeed  you  are,  Oguizi,"  replied  Rogala. 
"  I    will   obey  you   in   everything." 

Then  I  presented  him  with  a  big  hunting-knife, 
which  pleased  him  greatly. 

The  following  day,  while  I  was  seated  by  Rotembo 
under  the  veranda  of  his  house,  I  saw  Rogala  coming 
towards  us.  He  had  with  him  a  very  strange-looking 
dog. 

Rotembo  said  to  me :  "  Look  at  this  dog.  His 
name  is  Andekko.  He  is  fearless  and  always  in  the 
thick  of  the  fight.  He  is  not  afraid  of  any  wild 
beast.  In  war  he  always  warns  us  of  an  enemy  hid- 
ing in  the  jungle.  He  is  the  best  of  hunting  dogs. 
He  goes  into  the  forest  all  alone  in  search  of  game, 
and  will  drive  the  antelope  or  gazelle  up  to  Rogala 
or  the  hunter  he  knows,  even  if  it  takes  him  the  whole 
day  to  do  so.  He  has  captured  several  young  nginas 
and  nshiegos  after  their  mothers  were  killed,  and  gone 
into  the  lair  of  leopards  and  killed  their  young. 
The  wonder  is  that  he  has  not  been  killed  by  a 
gorilla  or  leopard  long  before  now  or  been  gashed  in 

12 


Rogala  and  Jndekko, 


\v 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

two  by  a  boar  or  disabled  by  monkeys.  Many  times 
he  will  prevent  you  from  being  hungry  while  you  are 
in  the  forest.'* 

I  gazed  at  Andekko  with  wonder,  he  looked  so 
very  ugly.  He  was  covered  with  scars,  marks  of  the 
wounds  he  had  received  in  his  conflicts  with  wild 
animals.  One  of  his  ears  was  split  in  two.  His 
upper  and  lower  lips  were  also  cut  on  the  left  side. 
These  two  wounds  had  been  made  by  a  large  monkey, 
called  a  mandril,  which  often  walks  on  the  ground 
and  had  been   surprised  there  by   Andekko. 

Rotembo,  seeing  that  I  was  looking  at  the  scars 
of  Andekko,  said :  "  Oguizi,  when  wounded,  this 
dog  becomes  even  fiercer  and  more  courageous  than 
before.      He  is  famous  for  his  courage." 

Andekko  belonged  to  the  same  family  of  dogs  as 
those  that  had  gone  gorilla-hunting  with  me  at 
King  Mombo's  plantation.  His  hair  was  of  yellowish 
color,  and  he  had  a  white  spot  on  his  throat.  His 
tail  could  not  have  been  more  curly,  and  he  was 
quite  lean ;  his  legs  were  somewhat  long. 

Then  Rotembo  said :  "  Oguizi,  Andekko  is  the 
second  gift  I  promised  you." 

The  next  day  Rogala  came  again,  but  this  time  with 
a  monkey  called  Ndova.  He  was  a  fine  creature,  with 
a  nice  coat  of  hair  and  a  white  nose.     The  chief,  point- 

13 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

ing  to  the  monkey,  said  :  "  His  name  is  Ndova,  and  he 
has  the  intelligence  of  a  man.  He  goes  with  Rogala 
into  the  forest.  We  have  given  him  the  name  of 
Ndova  because  the  species  of  monkeys  to  which  he 
belongs  is  so  called.  You  will  not  often  be  hungry 
in  the  forest  when  Ndova  is  with  you,  for  he  will  call 
upon  other  ndovas  to  come  to  him  while  he  stands 
close  to  you  and  Rogala,  and  when  these  come  you 
will  shoot  them.  You  will  have  plenty  of  monkey 
meat  to  eat.  When  monkeys  are  fat,"  he  added, 
"  they  taste  fine,  especially  if  they  are  broiled  on  a 
bright  charcoal  fire.  While  living  on  my  plantations, 
I  often  take  Ndova  with  me.  He  can  only  call  on 
his  fellow  ndovas,  for  the  other  species  do  not  under- 
stand his  talk. 

"  There  will  be  days,"  added  Rotembo,  "  when  you 
will  find  no  monkeys  or  other  game  and  hunger  will 
come  upon  you.  Then  Ndova  must  follow  you. 
rhere  are  many  kinds  of  fruits,  berries,  and  nuts 
in  the  forest;  these  look  very  tempting,  but  several 
of  them  are  very  poisonous,  and  people  die  if  they 
eat  them.  So  when  you  see  any  fruit,  berries,  or  nuts 
you  do  not  know,  do  not  eat  them  until  you  give 
them  to  Ndova  first.  If  he  eats  them,  these  are  also 
good  for  you." 

Monkeys  never  make  a  mistake;  they  have  a  gift 

14 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

which  no  man  possesses.  By  the  sense  of  smell  they 
can  tell  if  a  berry,  nut,  or  fruit  is  poisonous.  They 
always  smell  a  thing  they  do  not  know  before  eating  it, 
and  when  it  is  poisonous  they  throw  it  away.  If  it 
is  not  poisonous,  they  give  it  a  bite.  In  that  case 
what  is  good  for  the  monkey  is  good  for  the  man. 
But  I  must  tell  you  that  often  the  nuts,  berries,  or 
fruits  a  monkey  likes  men  do  not  like,  for  monkeys 
and  men  have  not  always  the  same  taste.'* 

After  hearing  the  words  of  Rotembo  I  looked  with 
renewed  curiosity  at  Ndova.  He  was  almost  as 
large  as  Andekko.  His  nose  was  white,  which  con- 
trasted strongly  with  the  color  of  his  dark  hair  tipped 
with  whitish  gray.  He  had  long  canine  teeth.  I  was 
glad  to  hear  he  was  gentle,  for  I  should  not  have  liked 
to  be  bitten  by  him. 

"  Oguizi,  I  give  you  Ndova,"  Rotembo  said.  "  He 
is  the  third  gift  I  promised  you.  I  think  you  will 
get  on  well  in  the  forest  with  Rogala,  Andekko, 
and  Ndova.  There  are  two  other  of  my  slaves  who 
are  also  great  hunters.  Their  names  are  Shinshooko 
and  Alapai.  These  three  men  live  close  together  in 
the  forest  and  spend  their  lives  in  hunting;  they 
have  their  famihes  with  them. 

"  I  got  Ndova  in  the  following  manner,"  he  con- 
tinued.     "  I    and     my    slave     Rogala    were    hunting 

15 


IN    AFRICAN    FORESr    AND   JUNGLE 

ti)<Tethcr  near  the  plantation  where  you  are  going. 
We  were  lying  in  wait  for  boars,  when  finally  we 
heard  their  i^runts.  We  heard  at  the  same  time 
the  chatter  of  monkeys  above  our  heads.  The  boars 
came  in  sight  and  we  fired.  Then,  to  our  astonish- 
ment, a  little  monkey  fell  from  the  tree  above  our 
heads.  The  firing  of  our  guns  had  frightened  his 
mother,  who  dropped  him.  He  did  not  have  the 
strength  to  hold  on  to  the  branches.  I  seized  the 
little  fellow  and  put  him  into  my  bag.  The  mother 
followed  all  the  way  back  to  the  plantation,  uttering 
cries  of  distress  and  anger.  Sometimes  she  would 
come  down  to  the  ground,  look  at  us,  and  go  up 
into  the  trees  again.  She  did  not  dare  to  approach 
too  near  us.  After  coming  to  the  house  we  fed  the 
little  monkey  with  the  milk  of  a  goat  and  called 
him  Ndova.  His  mother  at  the  same  time  remained 
on  a  commanding  tree  close  by,  calling  the  little  fel- 
low. Soon  she  was  joined  by  her  mate,  who  added 
his  calls  to  hers.  They  slept  on  a  tree  near  the 
plantation  that  night,  and  we  kept  the  baby  in  the 
house.  At  daylight  the  two  big  monkeys  were  still 
on  the  same  tree,  and  uttered  cries  of  anguish  and 
distress,  calling  for  the  little  fellow,  but  did  not 
dare  to  come  down. 

"  Three  days  passed  and  we  thought  little  Ndova's 

i6 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

mother  had  got  tired  and  gone  away  for  good  into  the 
forest,  leaving  her  offspring  to  his  fate,  for  we  no 
longer   heard   her  cries. 

"  We  made  a  little  bed  of  leaves  and  used  to  leave 
Ndova  upon  it  in  the  sun.  We  had  gone  into  our 
huts  one  afternoon.  After  a  while  I  came  out  of  the 
house  and  just  in  time.  For  Ndova's  mother  had 
apparently  been  watching  from  a  tree  and  seeing  no- 
body had  come  down  and  had  taken  hold  of  Ndova 
and  was  carrying  him  away  into  the  forest  as  fast  as 
she  could.  I  shouted  with  all  my  might,  and  Ndova 
lost  his  hold  and  dropped  to  the  ground. 

"  We  went  into  the  forest  and  made  a  trap  to  catch 
the  mother,  and  brought  the  little  monkey  and  put 
him  in  the  trap.  We  were  then  sure  that  she  would 
come  and  see  him  and  try  to  get  him  away.  When 
everything  was  ready,  we  hid  and  waited.  After  a 
time  we  saw  a  monkey  quietly  coming  down  a  tree. 
It  was  the  mother ;  we  recognized  her  by  her  white 
nose.  She  uttered  a  sound  of  joy  as  she  approached 
Ndova.  Then  she  got  into  the  cage,  and  the  trap- 
door closed  behind  her. 

"  When  we  came  towards  the  cage,  the  big  monkey 
was  much  frightened.     We  took  the  cage  with  us. 

"The  mother  nursed    the   little  one  for  over   ten 
moons  (months),  and  after  that  she  stayed  with  him 
2  17 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

until  she  died.  By  that  time  Ndova  could  take  care 
of  himself,  and  had  learned  the  language  of  the  ndova 
monkeys  from  his  mother. 

"  After  the  death  of  his  mother,  Rogala  took 
Ndova,  who  had  grown  fond  of  him,  into  the  forest 
every  day,  to  find  food  for  himself,  leading  him  by  a 
string.  Often  the  monkeys  of  his  kind  would  come 
around  above  his  head  and  talk  to  him,  and  Ndova 
would  answer  them.  After  a  time  Rogala, tied  a  long 
rope  to  Ndova,  so  that  he  might  go  higher  up  the 
trees  after  fruits.  Then  came  the  time  when  Ndova 
could  talk  very  loud  and  call  other  ndovas  to  him, 
and  Rogala  found  that  Ndova  had  become  very  useful. 
Rogala,  Ndova,  and  Andekko  are  now  three  insepar- 
able friends.  Ndova  and  Andekko  are  great  chums, 
for  they  love  to  play  together." 

I  thanked  Chief  Rotembo  for  his  valuable  gifts,  and 
said  that  they  would  be  of  great  service  to  me,  and 
promised  that  when  ready  to  leave  the  country  I 
would   return    Ndova  and   Andekko   to    him. 

When  Rogala  heard  these  words,  a  broad  grin  of 
satisfaction  overspread  his  face.  He  was  the  keeper 
of  Andekko  and  Ndova,  both  of  whom  were  his  con- 
stant companions.  He  was  afraid  that  Rotembo  had 
given  them  to  me  for  all  time. 

1   gave  a  bone  to   Andekko,  who  was   inclined   to 

i8 


Ndovas   mother   tries   to   carry  him   away  into   the  forest. 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST  AND   JUNGLE 

growl  at  me  at  first,  and  a  ripe  plantain  to  Ndova,  who 
gave  a  peculiar  "  Oh  oh  "  to  show  his  joy.  I  found 
afterward  that  Ndova  was  very  fond  of  ripe  plantains 
and  bananas. 

"  I  will  feed  Ndova  and  Andekko  often,"  said  I 
to  Rogala,  "  so  that  they  may  get  accustomed  to 
me." 

I  often  think  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  Andekko 
and  Ndova  I  should  probably  have  died  of  starvation 
in  the  great  forest. 

A  few  days  afterwards  Rotembo  came  to  me  and 
said :  "  Oguizi,  I  want  you  to  give  me  some  of  your 
hair.  I  shall  consider  this  the  greatest  gift  that  I  have 
ever  received." 

My  hair  had  become  very  long  and  hung  over  my 
shoulders.  I  had  let  it  grow,  for  it  excited  great 
wonder  among  the  natives.  It  was  very  black  and 
silky.  So  I  pulled  out  half  a  dozen  hairs  and  pre- 
sented them  to  Rotembo.  As  soon  as  he  received 
the  gift,  he  muttered  words  I  could  not  understand, 
then  took  his  little  idol  from  the  bag  that  always 
hung  by  his  side,  and  wound  two  of  the  hairs  round 
and  round  its  neck.  The  four  others  he  carefully 
put  aside  in  a  little  wooden  box.  After  this  he 
looked  perfectly  happy,  and  said  to  me,  "  Oguizi, 
the     six    long    hairs   you    have    given    me    are    more 

19 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

valuable  in  my  eyes  than  many  tusks  of  elephants, 
brass  kettles,  wives,  or  slaves." 

I  often  wished  I  had  had  flaxerf  hair  and  blue  eyes 
instead  of  black  hair  and  hazel  eyes,  for  I  should 
then  have  appeared  still  more  wonderful  in  the  eyes 
of  these  wild  and  savage  men.  ^ 


20 


CHAPTER   III 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEPARTURE  —  OFF  FOR  FORESt  AND 
JUNGLE  — A  HERD  OF  ELEPHANTS  —  WE  CAMP  FOR 
THE  NIGHT— NDOVA  CALLS  MONKEYS  OF  HIS  TRIBE 
WITHIN  RANGE  — WE  KILL  TWO  OF  THEM  —  FEEDING 
ON  ROAST  MONKEY  — A  DESERTED  HOUSE  —  A  STORY 
OF    WITCHCRAFT 

A  SHORT  time  after  I  received  these  gifts  from 
Rotemboj  I  made  preparations  to  enter  the  great 
forest,  to  live  with  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Alapai, 
and  Andekko  the  dog,  and  Ndova  the  monkey. 

I  put  all  my  things  together,  —  the  precious  tin  box 
containing  my  sextant,  etc.,  matches,  and  a  bottle  con- 
taining my  quicksilver,  a  little  iron  pot,  a  frying-pan, 
a  small  coffee-pot,  three  pairs  of  laced  boots,  some 
fire  steel  with  flints,  files,  two  axes,  one  machete,  and 
some  medicines.  I  took  also  a  shot-gun,  my  rifle 
"  Bulldog,"  and  a  lighter  rifle,  powder,  and  ammunition. 

When  everything  was  ready,  I  called  Rogala,  and 
showing  him  the  "  precious  box,"  I  said  to  him :  ^  Of 
all  the  things  I  possess,  I  think  most  of  this  box. 
You  alone  shall  carry  it  on  your  back,,  and  no  one 
must  ever  open  it,  for  if  he  does,  great  misfortune  will 
happen  to  him." 

21 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

At  daylight  the  following  morning  we  loaded  our 
canoe  with  my  outfit,  Rogala  carrying  my  "  precious 
box."  Rotembo  and  his  people  followed  us  to  the 
shore,  and  when  we  were  ready  to  start,  in  a  loud 
voice  Rotembo  invoked  the  spirits  of  his  ancestors, 
Kombe  and  others,  to  follow  me.  After  we  had  left 
I  saw  him  seated  on  the  ground  before  his  little  idol, 
talking  to  it.  The  last  words  we  heard  from  him 
were  :  "  Rogala,  take  good  care  of  the  Oguizi.  Good- 
bye, Oguizi ; "  and  after  passing  a  bend  of  the  river 
we  lost  sight  of  the  village. 

The  prow  of  our  canoe  was  a  carved  crocodile 
head  with  an  open  mouth  holding  a  man  between 
its  jaws. 

Ndova  and  Andekko  had  been  tied  near  it.  Ndova 
uttered  the  peculiar  intonation  meaning  pleasure. 
Andekko  was  wagging  his  tail  and  looking  at  Rogala. 
Both  seemed  to  know  that  they  were  going  home. 

During  the  day  we  saw  swimming  in  the  stream  a 
number  of  elephants.  They  were  playing  and  throwing 
water  high  into  the  air  with  their  trunks.  They  swam 
hither  and  thither,  and  as  we  came  nearer  we  saw  that 
each  elephant  had  a  little  baby  elephant  apparently 
standing  on  the  back  of  its  mother.  Rogala  was  in  a 
state  of  great  excitement ;  he  wanted  to  land  and 
walk  along  the  banks  of  the  river  and  have  a  shot  at 

22 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUinGLE 

the  elephants.  "  No,"  said  I,  "  each  of  these  elephants 
has  a  little  one  to  care  for.'* 

Further  on  we  saw  in  the  distance,  near  the  other  bank 
of  the  river,  two  canoes  descending  the  stream.  They 
were  full  of  men  in  war-paint  and  armed  with  spears 
and  war-axes.  They  were  singing  their  war-songs  and 
beating  their  tomtoms  fiercely.  Rogala's  face  became 
anxious.      I  asked  who  they  were. 

"  I  do  not  know,  Oguizi,'*  he  replied. 

Instantly  we  laid  hands  upon  our  guns  ready  to 
fight,  but  when  we  were  near  enough  to  hear  the 
warriors'  song  of  victory,  Rogala  recognized  that 
they  belonged  to  the  clan  of  Rotembo.  But  we  were 
paddling  so  near  the  banks  of  the  river  that  they  did 
not  see  us. 

Towards  evening  Rogala,  pointing  to  a  spot  near  the 
river,  said :  "  Oguizi,  this  is  a  place  where  I  camp  for 
the  night  when  I  am  on  the  river.  Close  by  is  a 
beautiful  little  spring  of  clear  water  coming  out  of  the 
earth,  cool  and  delicious  to  drink.  We  never  drink 
the  water  from  running  rivers  when  we  can  help  it." 

I  answered :  "  All  right,  Rogala ;  we  will  camp 
where  you  say." 

Accordingly  we  made  camp  here  and  passed  the 
night.  The  following  afternoon  we  entered  a  narrow 
river  and  left  the  large  Ogobai.     We  had  not  been  two 

23 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

hours  on  our  way  up  the  river  when  Ndova  began 
to  utter  loud  and  peculiar  sounds. 

"  Ndova  is  calling  the  monkeys  to  come  to  him," 
said  Rogala.  "  If  they  come  we  shall  have  monkey 
meat  for  our  evening  meal." 

As  he  spoke,  he  grinned  with  delight ;  but  there 
were  no  monkeys  within  the  sound  of  Ndova's  voice. 

After  a  while,  however,  the  call  of  Ndova  was 
answered  by  a  troop  of  monkeys,  and  they  seemed  to 
have  quite  a  conversation  together,  though  the  voices 
of  the  monkeys  did  not  seem  to  come  nearer. 

"  The  monkeys  are  trying  to  make  Ndova  come 
to  them,"   Rogala  said. 

Then  came  a  pause,  and  the  forest  became  still 
again.  But  soon  Rogala's  quick  ears  heard  the 
noise  made  by  the  shaking  of  the  branches  of  trees. 
The  monkeys  were  travelling  towards  us,  leaping 
from  branch  to  branch,  bending  them  by  their 
weight  as  they  alighted  upon  them. 

Ndova  was  making  an  awful  noise  and  was  very 
excited.  The  monkeys  answered  him,  and  he  kept 
on  calling  them.  We  were  paddling  silently  along 
the  banks  of  the  river,  and  as  soon  as  we  saw  the 
monkeys  on  a  tree  above  our  canoe  we  stopped. 
They  were  many  in  number,  and  looked  at  Ndova 
without  uttering  a  sound,  they  seemed  so  astonished. 

24 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST    AND   JUNGLE 

We  raised  our  guns  and  aimed  at  the  two  biggest 
white-nosed  ones  and  fired.  One  fell  into  our  canoe, 
the  other  dropped  dead  by  the  shore.  The  rest 
scuttled  away  in  a  trice. 

"  Good  for  you,  Ndova,'*  I  said  to  him. 

Ndova  was  in  a  great  state  of  excitement.  Rogala, 
holding  his  cord,  took  him  towards  the  two  dead 
monkeys.  When  he  came  near  them  he  uttered 
other  sounds,  quite  unlike  those  he  had  made  when 
he  called  the  monkeys  to  us.  What  he  meant  neither 
Rogala  nor  I  could  tell.  But  I  said  to  myself: 
"  Rotembo  is  right.  Ndova  will  be  the  cause  of  our 
having  food  and  we  shall  feed  often  on  monkey 
meat.  We  shall  not  starve  as  long  as  Ndova  is  with 
us.     Great,  indeed,  is  the  gift  of  Chief  Rotembo  !  " 

A  few  miles  further  on  we  landed.  In  a  short 
time  we  were  seated  by  a  bright  fire,  and  when  it 
had  been  reduced  to  a  great  mass  of  charcoal  we 
roasted  one  of  the  monkeys  and  with  our  roasted 
plantains  made  a  delicious  meal.  Andekko  fed  on 
some  of  the  bones,  and  Ndova  on  a  ripe  plantain. 

At  dawn  of  day  we  left  our  encampment.  About 
two  hours  afterwards  we  came  upon  three  little  houses 
surrounded  by  plantain  trees.  The  houses  were  in 
a  dilapidated  state  and  had  been  abandoned.  The 
large    bunches   of  plantain   that    were    hanging    from 

25 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

the  trees  were  untouched,  for  the  elephants  and  the 
big  apes,  the  "  men  of  the  woods,"  had  not  found 
the  plantation. 

Some  time  before  we  had  reached  the  place  Rogala's 
face  had  become  uneasy.  He  took  to  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river.  I  could  see  fear  on  his  counte- 
nance. He  paddled  faster  than  ever,  and  his  mind 
seemed  quite  relieved  when  we  had  left  the  spot 
far  behind  us.  Then  he  stopped,  tied  the  canoe 
to  a  tree  to  rest  a  while,  and  said  :  "  Two  dry  sea- 
sons ago  there  lived  on  the  plantation  we  have  passed 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Igala.  His  wife  was  called 
Yienoo.  Both  were  sorcerers,  and  had  been  so  for 
a  long  time,  though  the  people  did  not  know  it. 
Near  them  was  a  village.  One  day  one  of  the  men  of 
the  village  was  trampled  to  death  by  a  bull  elephant, 
and  there  was  great  sorrow  among  the  people.  The 
day  after  a  leopard  came  into  the  village  at  night  and 
carried  away  a  woman.  The  people  began  to  think 
it  was  strange  that  those  two  deaths  should  occur 
one  immediately  after  the  other,  and  they  became 
much  alarmed,  and  believed  that  witchcraft  was  the 
cause  of  the  trouble,  but  no  one  suspected  who  the 
sorcerers  were.  Some  time  afterwards  a  man  disap- 
peared and  never  came  back.  After  this  the  people 
were  so  much  excited  that  they  sent  a  messenger  to  a 

26 


IFe   raised  our  guns   and  aimed  at   the   tivo   biggest  ivhiti 
nosed  ones   and  firedT 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

celebrated  'medicine  man  '  who  was  known  all  over  the 
country  for  his  skill  in  discovering  sorcerers.  They 
promised  to  pay  him  two  slaves  if  he  would  come. 
The  name  of  this  great  '  ooganga/  or  medicine  man, 
was  Makoonga ;  he  is  living  now.  He  sent  word 
by  the  messenger  that  he  would  come  after  hi^: 
return  from  another  village  where  he  was  going  to 
find  out  who  had  killed  by  witchcraft  the  brother 
of  the  chief 

"  There  was  great  joy  in  the  village  when  the  mes- 
senger brought  back  word  that  Makoonga  was  com- 
ing. Three  days  after  the  return  of  the  messenger 
another  man  disappeared,  and  remains  of  his  body 
were  discovered,  showing  that  he  had  been  devoured 
by  a  leopard.  Then  all  the  people  said  that  some 
one  among  them  had  changed  his  shape  and  turned 
into  a  leopard,  that  he  had  eaten  up  the  three  persons 
who  had  disappeared,  and  had  also  taken  the  shape 
of  an  elephant  and  trodden  upon  the  man  who  had 
been  killed  in  that  way. 

"  There  was  no  more  sleep  in  the  village.  The 
people  danced  all  night,  and  called  upon  the  spirits 
of  their  ancestors  to  protect  them  from  witchcraft. 
They  made  invocation  to  their  idol  and  to  the  spirits 
Mburu  and  Abambo. 

"  Then  Makoonga  came,  and  the  following  day  the 

27 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

people  met,  and  he  drank  the  '  mboundou '  before 
them,  and  after  drinking  it  he  became  possessed  of 
the  power  of  divination,  and  told  them  that  Igala 
and  Yienoo  through  witchcraft  had  taken  the  shape 
of  leopards  and  eaten  up  the  three  people,  and  that 
Igala  had  taken  the  shape  of  an  elephant  and  trampled 
the  man. 

"  There  was  a  great  uproar  amongst  the  people  when 
they  heard  this.  They  went  to  the  home  of  Igala 
and  Yienoo  and  brought  them  to  the  village.  They 
had  to  drink  the  '  mboundou  *  to  prove  their  inno- 
cence in  the  presence  of  all  the  people.  Makoonga 
made  the  potation,  drank  part  of  it  first,  and  then 
handed  the  bowl  to  Igala  and  Yienoo.  They  had 
hardly  tasted  it  when  they  fell  on  the  ground.  That 
was  the  proof  that  they  were  guilty,  and  the  people 
surrounded  them  and  cut  their  bodies  into  a  hundred 
pieces  and  then  threw  them  into  the  river.  Oh, 
Oguizi,"  exclaimed  Rogala,  in  concluding  his  story, 
"  often  witchcraft  comes  into  people  without  their 
wishing  it  and  against  their  will." 

After  this  narrative  he  untied  "our  canoe  and  we 
continued  our  ascent  of  the  river.  After  st  long  pull 
he  suddenly  headed  our  canoe  towards  the  shore,  and 
after  passing  under  the  branches  of  trees  that  almost 
J:ouched  the  water  we  came  to  a  path  which   no  one 

28 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

coming  up  or  down  the  river  could  detect.  This 
path  led  to  Rogala's  place.  Ndova  uttered  grunt-like 
sounds  of  satisfaction  ;  Andekko  barked  to  show  his 
joy.  They  knew  they  had  come  home;  they  were 
well  acquainted  with  this  spot. 


29 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE  HOME  OF  ROGALA—  HIS  HUNTING-TROPHIES  —  A 
WEIRD  SPOT  — ASPECT  OF  THE  SURROUNDING  FOREST 
—  SHINSHOOKO  AND  ALAPAI  —  LEOPARDS  IN  THE 
NEIGHBORHOOD 

AFTER  a  few  minutes'  walk  we  came  to  a  grove 
of  plantain  trees,  and  there  saw  the  home  of 
Rogala,  which  was  composed  of  four  small  structures. 
The  dwelling-house  had  a  veranda  in  front.  It 
was  built  of  bark  with  a  roof  thatched  with  palm 
leaves,  and  was  about  eighteen  feet  long  and  twelve 
wide.      It  had  only  one  door. 

Under  the  veranda  hung  the  tails  of  nearly  all  the 
elephants  he  had  killed.  I  counted  ninety-five  of  them. 
Some  of  the  tails  he  had  got  went  to  Chief  Rotembo. 
All  along  the  roof  were  skulls  of  antelopes  with  the 
graceful  spiral  horns,  two  skulls  of  male  gorillas, 
several  skulls  of  nshiegos  or  chimpanzees,  of  wild 
boars,  of  buffaloes,  of  leopards  and  other  wild  animals. 

Four  elephant  skulls  stood  at  each  corner  of  the 
house.  These  elephants  had  been  killed  near  the 
plantations.  Rogala  was  the  greatest  elephant  hunter 
of  his  day. 

30 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

One  building  was  composed  of  a  single  roof  merely, 
under  which  cooking  was  done.  Here  also  people 
were  received,  and  the  space  it  covered  was  the 
dining-room. 

A  small  house  near  by  was  for  Mburu,  a  spirit, 
who  sometimes  came  to  rest  there  during  the  night. 
His  bed  lay  on  the  ground,  and  was  composed  of  dry 
leaves  covered  with  a  mat.  His  pillow  was  a  smooth 
round  piece  of  wood.  In  the  fourth  small  house 
was  the  idol.  There  were  also  a  chicken-coop  and  a 
goat-house. 

"  We  have  chosen  this  spot,"  said  Rogala, "  because 
at  a  certain  time  of  the  year  the  country  is  full  of 
elephants.  They  come  to  eat  the  leaves  of  a  tree  that 
is  more  plentiful  around  here  than  in  other  parts  of 
the  forest." 

A  little  further  on  I  saw  several  other  small  houses  ; 
those  belonged  to  Shinshooko  and  Alapai. 

The  place  was  entirely  deserted,  for  all  the  people 
had  gone  into  the  forest,  —  the  men  to  cut  trees  for 
new  plantations,  and  the  women  to  attend  to  the 
crops  that  had  been  planted  and  bring  back  bunches 
of  plantain  or  cassava  roots. 

What  a  weird  spot  the  hunters  had  chosen  for  their 
home  !  The  little  houses  of  bark  looked  small  indeed 
compared  with  the  tall  trees   that   surrounded  them. 

31 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

The  plantain  trees  and  the  cassava  grew  in  the 
midst  of  branches  of  the  trees  that  had  been  felled 
and  burned  afterwards.  Not  far  off  was  the  river, 
flowing  in  the  midst  of  the  dark  silent  forest,  which 
was  only  disturbed  now  and  then  by  the  shrill  cries 
of  parrots,  or  the  chatter  of  a  troop  of  monkeys  or 
the  tap  of  the  woodpecker.  In  the  forest  surround- 
ing the  houses  hung  huge  lianas  which  looked  like 
gigantic  swinging  snakes.  Some  of  the  trees  had 
gorgeous  flowers,  and  orchids  grew  on  the  bark  of 
many.     The  foliage  was  greatly  diversified. 

On  the  border  of  the  clearing  stood  a  gigantic  elimi 
tree ;  along  its  trunk  came  out  a  soft  sticky  whitish 
gum,  which  the  people  use  to  make  torches  with.  The 
forest  seemed  to  be  made  of  three  or  four  layers  of 
trees  growing  on  the  top  of  each  other,  while  here 
and  there,  towering  above  all,  rose  an  immense  one 
that  seemed  to  look  down  on  the  great  forest  from 
its  own  lofty  height.  Under  all  the  trees  was  the 
thick  jungle,  in  which  roamed  wild  and  often  fero- 
cious beasts. 

Rogala  brought  a  stool  and  invited  me  to  a  seat 
under  the  veranda  of  his  house.  Towards  sunset 
Rogala's  wife  returned  with  three  boys,  their  children. 
She  carried  an  infant  in  a  sling  on  her  back.  She 
looked  at  me  in  fear  and  trembling,  and  she  and  the 

32 


She   looked  at   ine   in  fear   and  tremblings   and  she   and 
the   children   ran   to   hideT 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

children  ran  to  hide.  This  annoyed  Rogala  very 
much,  and  he  called  her  back  in  an  angry  tone.  Then 
he  became  milder,  and  told  her  and  the  children  not  to 
be  afraid  of  his  friend  the  Oguizi. 

Soon  after  two  men  and  their  wives,  loaded  with  two 
large  bunches  of  plantain,  and  their  children  made 
their  appearance.  These  men  were  Shinshooko  and 
Alapai. 

Rogala  bade  them  approach.  Shinshooko  was  over 
six  feet  two  in  height,  very  thin,  and  brown  in  color. 
He  came  from  a  country  called  Ashango.  Alapai 
was  short,  thickset,  and  very  black.  He  came  from 
a  tribe  called  Apono.  These  two  tribes  had  the 
same  language.  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  looked  at 
me  constantly,  but  avoided  the  glance  of  my  eyes, 
of  which  they  were  afraid.  But  Rogala  allayed  their 
fears  by  telling  them  that  I  was  a  good  Oguizi  and 
a  great  friend  of  their  master  Rotembo,  who  sent 
word  by  him  that  they  must  go  and  hunt  with 
me  in  the  forest. 

The  three  then  went  away  to  our  canoe  and  brought 
back  my  things  with  them.  Shinshooko  and  Alapai 
were  eager  to  hear  what  had  occurred  since  Rogala 
had  left  them,  and  how  it  happened  that  I  came 
with   him. 

Rogala  told  all  that  had  taken  place,  how  his  master 
3  2>Z 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

Rotembo  had  given  him  to  me,  that  I  was  a  great 
hunter,  and  that  I  came  to  hunt  with  them. 

Shinshooko  and  Alapai  and  their  families  listened 
in  profound  silence  to  the  wonderful  story  of  Rogala, 
and  when  he  had  finished  it  was  the  turn  of  Shin- 
shooko and  Alapai  to  tell  what  had  happened  during 
the  absence  of  Rogala.  Shinshooko  was  the  speaker, 
and  began  thus  :  "  Leopards  have  made  their  appear- 
ance in  the  neighborhood  since  you  left,  Rogala. 
What  has  brought  the  leopards  so  suddenly  into  our 
neighborhood  we  cannot  tell,  but  it  must  be  that  the 
bashikouay  ants  have  invaded  and  scoured  a  great  part 
of  the  forest  and  driven  them  away,  and  they  have  fled 
towards  us.  We  have  seen  many  tracks  of  their  big 
paws.  We  must  look  out  for  these  leopards  and 
make  traps  and  catch  them  and  hunt  them.  Fortu- 
nately our  goat-house  is  so  strong  and  so  secure  that 
leopards  cannot  break  through.  But  we  must  do  all 
we  can  to  kill  them,  for  fear  that  some  one  of  them 
might  be  a  man-eater  and  devour  some  of  us  or  some 
of  our  children." 

That  night  numerous  fires  were  lighted  to  scare 
away  the  leopards.  I  went  into  my  little  hut,  but 
kept  awake  with  "  Bulldog  "  by  my  side,  for  I  thought 
a  leopard  might  easily  come  through  the  thin  roof  of 
palm  leaves  over  my  head.     We  all  hoped  that  there 

•34 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

was  no  man-eater  among  the  leopards,  for  if  there  were 
we  were  sure  that  he  would  lie  in  wait  for  some  one. 
When  once  they  have  tasted  human  flesh,  they  like  it 
better  than  anything  else.  But  no  leopard  paid  us  a 
visit  during  the  night. 


35 


CHAPTER   V 

WE  BUILD  A  LEOPARD  TRAP  —  A  NIGHT  ON  THE 
WATCH  —  THE  BEAST  APPEARS  AT  LAST  — CAUGHT 
IN  THE  TRAP  AND  SOON  DESPATCHED  —  HER  MATE 
KILLED  THE  FOLLOWING  NIGHT  —  EXCITEMENT  OF 
ANDEKKO    AND    NDOVA 

EARLY  the  next  morning  the  men  went  into  the 
forest  to  cut  poles,  and  after  we  had  a  sufficient 
number  we  built  a  trap  to  catch  the  leopard. 

We  constructed  the  trap  in  the  following  manner 
according  to  the  plan  of  Shinshooko,  who  had  the 
reputation  of  great  skill  and  ingenuity  in  making  all 
sorts  of  traps. 

We  built  with  the  poles  a  long  narrow  funnel-like 
alley,  which  became  gradually  smaller  and  smaller 
towards  the  end,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  the 
leopard  to  go  entirely  through.  At  the  entrance 
Shinshooko  constructed  a  trap-door  which  was  to 
fall  after  the  leopard  was  fairly  in.  The  end  of  this 
funnel-like  structure  communicated  with  the  goat- 
house,  which  we  surrounded  with  a  double  row  of 
poles,  so  that  the  leopard  could  not  get  through. 
The  roof  was  made  entirely  of  poles  strongly  fastened 
together.     The  structure  was  about  twenty  feet  long. 

36 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

I  said  to  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Alapal :  "  To- 
night I  shall  not  sleep,  but  will  watch  for  leopards 
near  the  goat-house.  Perhaps  some  of  them  will 
come  when  they  scent  the  goats ;  so  do  not  be  afraid 
if  you  hear  the  detonation  of  a  gun.  I  want  all  the 
dogs  to  be  shut  up  indoors." 

When  evening  came,  I  took  a  nap,  for  I  knew  that 
it  was  the  habit  of  the  leopards  not  to  prowl  before 
midnight,  unless  famished. 

Towards  eleven  o'clock  I  awoke,  and  then  made 
ready  for  the  leopards.  I  took  up  a  position  opposite 
the  goat-house  under  the  veranda  of  a  little  house, 
where  I  was  partly  hidden  from  view.  I  surrounded 
myself  with  branches  of  trees  I  had  gathered  during 
the  day.     There  I  waited. 

The  moon,  that  was  on  the  wane,  rose  and  threw  a 
dim  light  all  around.  It  was  an  ideal  night  for  lying 
in  wait  for  a  leopard. 

One  o'clock  came  and  no  leopard  had  made  his  ap- 
pearance. Time  went  on  slowly.  Two  o'clock,  no 
leopard.  I  began  to  think  that  they  would  not  call, 
when  suddenly  the  goats  began  to  bleat.  They  had 
scented  the  approach  of  a  beast  of  prey  and  become 
terrified;  Suddenly  I  saw  from  behind  one  of  the 
houses  and  among  three  or  four  plantain  trees  some- 
thing moving.      It  was  the  leopard.      He  was  coming. 

37 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

His  eyes  shone  as  if  they  were  burning  coals.  Then 
slowly  he  advanced  towards  the  trap.  I  did  not 
wonder  that  Rogala  had  admonished  me  to  make  no 
noise.  The  leopard  was  slowly  crawling  near,  his 
belly   almost   touching   the   ground. 

I  watched  him  carefully  to  see  what  he  was  going  to 
do.  His  long  tail  beat  his  flanks.  He  sniffed  at  the 
goat,  and  finding  that  he  could  not  reach  the  fright- 
ened creature,  he  went  round  the  trap.  I  watched 
with  breathless  attention. 

Then  he  came  to  the  opening,  and  entered.  Soon 
after  I  heard  the  trap-door  close  behind  him.  That 
did  not  disturb  him,  for  all  he  thought  of  was  the  goat. 
He  went  on  until  he  got  so  jammed  in  that  he  could 
not  advance  further.  Then  he  became  excited  as  he 
tried  to  extricate  himself,  and  roared  with  anger.  He 
could  not  turn  back,  and  I  fired  and  killed  him. 

In  an  instant  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Alapai 
were  out  of  their  cabins,  guns  in  hand,  running  to- 
wards the  goat-house.  We  lighted  torches  to  frighten 
other  leopards,  and  came  out  with  them.  The  men 
gave  a  terrific  war-cry,  and  shouted :  "  Leopard,  you 
will  not  eat  more  of  our  goats  !  "  In  a  short  time 
everybody  was  around  the  leopard,  looking  at  him. 

I  opened  his  mouth  and  looked  at  his  terrible- 
looking  canines.     "  These  four  canines,"   I  said,  "  I 

38 


tyD 


-5^ 


/ 

IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

will  send  to  Rotembo.  I  hope  we  shall  kill  leop- 
ards enough  to  have  canines  for  a  big  necklace 
for  him." 

"  Yes,"  they  all  shouted,  "  let  us  kill  all  the  leop- 
ards in  the  country." 

Then  all  the  people  danced  around  the  leopard, 
singing  at  the  same  time :  "  You  wicked  leopard,  your 
days  are  over,  you  will  not  make  any  one  now  fear 
you.  The  antelopes  and  gazelles  of  the  forest  would 
be  glad  if  they  knew  that  you  have  been  killed  by  the 
great  Oguizi." 

The  dance  lasted  until  daylight,  when  we  skinned 
the  beast.  "  Let  us  make  a  belt  of  his  skin  for  Chief 
Rotembo,"  I  said ;  and  we  accordingly  did  so.  The 
tail  I  gave  to  Rogala.  We  divided  the  liver  into 
several   parts. 

Later  in  the  day  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  I  went 
into  the  forest  with  Andekko  in  search  of  the  lair 
of  the  leopard,  which  was  a  female,  hoping  to  take 
the  young  ones.  But  we  were  not  successful,  and 
were  obliged  finally  to  return  without  accomplishing 
our  object. 

"  When  night  comes,"  I  said  to  my  hunters,  "  I 
will  lie  in  wait  for  the  male  leopard ;  perhaps  he  will 
come  here  in  search  of  his  mate." 

To  this  the  man  replied :  "  Yes,  a  male  leopard  is 

39 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

more  likely  to  come  and  seek  for  his  mate  than  a 
female  is.'* 

That  night  as  I  was  watching  I  suddenly  saw  a  dark 
spot  moving  not  far  from  where  I  stood.  Suddenly  I 
saw  the  eyes  of  a  leopard  looking  like  burning  coals. 
He  had  come  to  look  for  his  mate.  But  he  had  not 
advanced  far  towards  the  houses  when  I  fired  and 
killed  him. 

Andekko,  who  had  been  fastened  inside  Rogala's 
house,  was  let  loose  and  came  bounding  towards  us. 
He  had  heard  the  sound  of  the  gun,  and  knew  that 
something  was  up.  At  the  sight  of  the  dead  leopard 
his  hair  stood  straight  up,  and  then  before  we  knew  it 
he  was  on  the  body  of  the  beast  with  his  teeth  fastened 
in  its  throat. 

In  the  morning  I  said  to  Rogala,  "  Bring  Ndova  to 
look  at  the  leopard."  He  went  after  the  monkey  and 
soon  came  back  with  Ndova  in  his  arms.  At  the  sight 
of  the  leopard  Ndova  sprang  from  Rogala's  arms,  and 
in  an  instant  was  up  a  young  tree,  the  hair  all  over  his 
body  standing  upright.  He  glared  at  the  dead  leop- 
ard, uttering  at  the  same  time  sounds  of  rage.  We 
could  not  make  him  come  down  from  the  tree  until 
we  had  taken  away  the  leopard  from  the  place.  Then 
he  descended  and  hid  away  in  the  house  of  Rogala. 


40 


CHAPTER   VI 

MY  HUNTERS  AND  I  BECOME  GREAT  FRIENDS  —  AN- 
DEKKO  AND  NDOVA  GROW  FOND  OF  ME  ~  WE 
TAKE  NDOVA  INTO  THE  FOREST  —  HE  CALLS  MON- 
KEYS TO  US  AGAIN  —  ANDEKKO'S  PROWESS  AS  A 
HUNTER  — A  FEMALE  GORILLA  AND  HER  BABY — 
WE  KILL  THE  MAMMA  AND  ANDEKKO  KILLS  THE 
BABY 

AFTER  a  few  days  of  constant  companionship 
with  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Aiapai,  their 
fears  of  me  had  been  allayed  and  we  had  become  great 
friends. 

The  women  had  also  become  accustomed  to  me  and 
had  grown  to  like  me,  for  I  had  given  them  beads, 
looking-glasses,  and  some  other  trinkets.  They  also 
showed  much  pleasure  when  they  brought  to  my  feet 
bunches  of  plantain,  peanuts,  or  other  food.  They 
would  fish  in  the  river,  and  all  the  fish  they  caught 
they  would  bring  to  me,  so  that  I  might  choose  what 
I  wanted.  The  children  would  snare  birds  and  bring 
them  to  me.  They  were  always  delighted  to  follow 
me  when  I  went  out  to  shoot  birds. 

Andekko  and  Ndova,  who  were  always  fed  by  me, 
had  also  become  accustomed  to  the  color  of  my  face 

41 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

and  my  long  hair ;   they  knew  I  was  their  friend,  for 
when  they  were  hungry  I  gave  them  food. 

Ndova  from  his  perch  always  watched  for  my  return, 
and  when  he  saw  me  he  uttered  pecuHar  sounds  of 
joy,  which  were  always  the  same,  so  that  when  he 
uttered  them  I  always  knew  that  he  was  glad.  He 
knew  that  I  generally  brought  to  him  nuts,  berries,  or 
fruits  which  he  liked.  When  I  was  eating  with  Rogala, 
Shinshooko,  and  Alapai,  Andekko  was  always  by  me, 
for  he  had  learned  that  he  fared  much  better  by  my 
side,  as  I  had  directed  them  not  to  feed  him. 

One  day  I  said  to  Rogala :  "  Meat  is  getting  scarce. 
Let  us  take  Ndova  with  us  into  the  forest  to-morrow 
morning  ;  perhaps  he  will  succeed,  if  we  meet  monkeys 
belonging  to  his  species,  in  making  them  come  to  him. 
Then,  if  we  kill  two  or  three,  we  shall  have  monkey 
meat  to  eat." 

The  following  morning  Rogala,  with  Ndova  tied  by 
a  rope,  and  I  set  out  for  the  forest.  Once  in  a  while 
Ndova  would  call  for  his  friends,  the  monkeys  of  his 
species;  but  there  came  no  answer  to  his  call,  —  there 
were  no  ndovas  in  that  part  of  the  forest. 

We  kept  on  further  and  further ;  but  though  Ndova 
called  for  those  of  his  species,  there  came  no  answer 
back,  and  finally  we  deemed  it  time  to  return  home, 
as  otherwise  we  should  have  to  sleep  in  the  forest. 

42 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

On  our  way  back  Ndova  began  to  chatter  in  his  own 
language.  What  he  meant  we  of  course  could  not  tell 
at  first,  but  soon  we  found  out  that  through  some  pe- 
culiar gifts  only  belonging  to  monkeys,  perhaps  with 
his  keen  sense  of  smell,  he  knew  that  there  were 
monkeys  of  his  own  tribe  near.  His  voice  or  utter- 
ances were  answered  by  other  sounds  made  by  a  troop 
of  monkeys  which  Rogala  and  I  knew  to  be  ndovas, 
and  before  we  realized  their  presence,  they  were  all 
upon  a  tree  above  our  heads.  Ndova  became  dread- 
fully excited.  I  took  aim  at  the  biggest  monkey, 
fired,  and  he  fell  on  the  ground  with  a  great  crash. 
The  others  gave  a  cry  of  alarm,  and  in  less  than 
twenty  seconds  were  out  of  sight. 

The  next  day  I  said  to  Rogala :  '''  Let  us  go  into 
the  forest  with  Andekko.  I  want  to  see  how  he  hunts, 
and  if  he  drives  the  game  within  gunshot  of  the  place 
where  we  are  waiting  for  it." 

"  He  will  surely  do  that,"  replied  Rogala. 

The  next  morning,  at  dawn  of  day,  we  started  for 
the  forest,  Andekko  ahead  of  us.  Suddenly  he  disap- 
peared. Once  in  a  while  Rogala  shouted  to  let  the 
dog  know  where  we  stood.  Then  we  waited  and 
waited,  Rogala  now  and  then  calling  Andekko  at  the 
top  of  his  voice.  After  a  few  hours  we  heard  the 
barking  of  Andekko.     The  barking  became  louder,  and 

43 


.IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Rogala  said  :  "  Oguizi,  let  us  make  ready,  for  Andekko 
is  probably  driving  an  antelope  towards  us." 

In  another  instant  a  large  antelope  with  long  spiral 
horns  passed  near  us,  but  not  near  enough  for  us  to 
fire.  Then  the  barking  of  Andekko  died  away/n  the 
distance,  and  Rogala  said  :  "  We  must  not  go  away. 
I  think  Andekko  will  brinf^  back  the  antelope  towards 
us.*'  He  was  not  mistaken.  A  short  time  afterwards 
we  heard  Andekko  again  in  the  distance ;  the  barking 
became  louder  and  louder,  and  at  last  seemed  very  near. 
An  antelope  came  bounding  by  us.  We  fired  and 
brought  him  down. 

We  returned  home  with  our  spoil,  and  the  following 
afternoon  I  said  to  Rogala :  "  Where  is  Andekko  ^  I 
have  not  seen  him  to-day.  Has  he  perhaps  been  de- 
voured by  a  prowling  leopard  ? " 

Rogala  smiled  at  my  question,  and  replied  :  "  An- 
dekko is  a  wide-awake  dog,  and  seeing  that  we  did  not 
go  into  the  forest  with  him,  he  has  gone  to  hunt  by 
himself,  and  I  should  not  wonder  if  we  heard  his  bark- 
ing soon,  telling  us  that  he  is  pursuing  game  towards  our 
little  settlem.ent  and  warning  us  to  be  ready  for  it.'* 

Rogala  was  right;  a  short  time  afterwards  we  heard 
the  barking  of  Andekko.  He  was  running  after  some 
animal  and  giving  us  warning.  But  the  barking  soon 
became  fainter,  then  could  not  be  heard  at  all. 

44 


?      >s 


^ 


^. 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

I  said  to  Rogala,  "  The  animal  has  escaped  from 
Andekko." 

"  It  is  perhaps  so,'*  he  replied ;  "  but  the  dog  will 
not  give  up  the  chase  so  easily." 

A  little  while  after  we  heard  Andekko  again  far 
away ;  then  the  barking  gradually  became  louder. 
We  got  ready  with  our  guns.  I  had  my  smooth-bore 
loaded  with  buckshot.  Soon  after  a  gazelle  passed  by 
uSj  closely  pursued  by  Andekko.  We  fired  and  killed 
the  beautiful  creature.  We  had  great  trouble  in  pre- 
venting Andekko  from  tearing  the  animal  in  pieces 
until  I  cut  off  the  foreleg  and  threw  it  to  him,  ex- 
claiming :  "  Great  indeed  is  the  gift  of  Chief  Rotembo 
to  me.     We  shall  not  starve  while  Andekko  is  with  us." 

The  following  day  we  went  again  with  Andekko 
into  the  forest.  This  time  Shinshooko,  Alapai,  and 
Rogala  were  all  with  me.  They  had  seen  footmarks 
of  a  gorilla  and  of  her  baby.  So  we  took  a  net  with 
us  to  throw  over  the  little  one  and  capture  him  in  case 
we  succeeded  in  killing  the  mother. 

After  a  tramp  of  three  hours  we  heard  the  fierce 
barking  of  Andekko  on  the  right  of  the  path,  not  very 
far  from  us.  There  followed  loud,  short  yells  of  an 
ngina.  We  immediately  left  the  path  and  entered  the 
forest,  being  guided  by  the  barking  of  Andekko  and 
the  yells  of  the  ngina.     We  soon  found  ourselves  in 

45 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

the  presence  of  a  mamma  ngina  on  a  tree,  with  a  tiny 
baby  holding  to  her  and  uttering  sounds  of  fright. 
Andekko  was  in  a  perfect  rage;  his  hair  stood  up, 
bristling  like  the  quills  of  a  porcupine. 

Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Alapai  were  by  my  side. 
The  ngina  was  looking  fiercely  at  us.  Her  big  black 
face,  wrinkled  all  over,  was  savagely  wicked.  The 
little  fellow  was  hiding  his  face  against  her  breast. 
She  uttered  sharp,  piercing  yells  of  anger,  then  a  shout 
of  "  Whoa,  whoa."  I  aimed  at  her,  and  fired.  She 
dropped,  but  held  on  for  an  instant  to  the  branch  upon 
which  she  was  seated  with  a  firm  hand,  while  the  little 
one  clung  fast  to  her  shoulders.  Then  she  let  go  and 
fell  down  some  twenty  feet  to  the  ground  with  a  great 
crash.  She  was  dead,  and  before  we  had  time  to 
rescue  the  little  ngina,  Andekko  had  strangled  him,  to 
my  infinite  sorrow. 

Rogala  and  Shinshooko  said :  "  We  must  look  out  for 
her  mate;  the  big  ^  man  ngina'  may  come  upon  us  in 
a  moment.  Perhaps  he  is  already  coming  silently  to 
her  rescue.'' 

We  were  glad  we  had  Andekko  with  us,  for  we  were 
sure  to  be  warned  by  him  of  the  approach  of  the  big 
beast.  We  cut  off  the  heads  of  the  ngina  and  of  the 
little  one  as  trophies,  and  then  retraced  our  steps 
towards  Rogala's  and  Shinshooko's  home. 

46 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

On  our  way  back  we  heard,  several  miles  away,  the 
mighty  voice  of  the  male  ngina  calling  upon  his  mate 
to  let  her  know  where  he  was ;  but  no  answer  came 
back  to  him,  and  I  found  myself  wondering  what  his 
feelings  would  be  when  he  came  to  where  she  had 
been  killed.  We  would  have  gone  after  him,  but  it 
was  too  late  in  the  day. 

There  was  great  excitement  on  our  return.  The 
following  day  Rogala  warned  me  to  take  no  other  gun 
but  "  Bulldog ''  if  I  went  into  the  forest,  saying :  "  The 
'man  ngina'  is  probably  around  looking  for  the  slayer 
of  his  wife."  How  I  wished  I  could  have  been  present 
.  when  the  big  beast  came  before  the  dead  body  of  his 
mate  and  saw  her  and  her  baby  ngina  headless ! 
How  he  must  have  yelled  and  roared!  How  fiercely 
he  would  have  come  to  the  attack  if  some  one  had 
been  near !  How  I  wished  I  could  face  him  with 
"  Bulldog "  in  my  hand !  We  expected  to  hear  his 
roar  that  day,  then  go  after  him  ;  but  the  forest  was 
silent.  He  had  gone  wandering  in  search  of  another 
mate. 

The  next  day  we  heard  Andekko  barking  in  the 
forest  not  very  far  off.  He  seemed  to  bark  at  the 
same  spot  all  the  time,  and  Rogala  said  :  "  Let  us  go 
where  he  is  and  find  out  what  is  the  matter." 

So  we  went  towards   the  spot  where  he  was  bark- 

47 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

ing,  and  at  last  came  to  it.  No  wonder  he  remained 
in  the  same  place.  He  was  barking  at  a  porcupine, 
that  had  rolled  himself  into  a  ball  and  had  all  his 
quills  standing  erect. 

Andekko  was  in  a  perfect  rage,  his  hair  was  erect  on 
his  back,  but  I  knew  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
bite  the  porcupine,  and  he  feared  his  terrible  quills. 
He  would  not  leave  the  porcupine  until  we  called  him 
away,  and  the  porcupine  as  long  as  Andekko  was  near 
him  kept  his  quills  erect. 

Andekko  disappeared  again  the  following  morning. 
In  the  evening  he  returned  with  a  scar  on  his  back 
and  with  a  bloody  muzzle.  He  had  had  an  encounter 
with  some  wild  animal.  Evidently  some  sharp  teeth 
had  bitten  him.  But  in  the  end  he  had  had  the  best 
of  the  conflict,  as  his  muzzle  testified ;  it  was  clear  he 
had  fed  on  his  victim. 

Rogala  put  some  balsam  on  his  wounds.  The  dog 
was  manifestly  very  tired,  for  in  a  short  time  he  was 
stretched  full  length  near  the  fire,  and  after  a  while  he 
was  dreaming.  His  legs  moved  as  if  he  were  running, 
and  he  barked  softly.  The  following  morning 
Andekko  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  punishment 
he  had  received  the  day  before  had  not  scared  him  in 
the  least.     He  had  gone  hunting  again. 


48 


CHAPTER   VII 

FIGHT  BETWEEN  MONKEY  TRIBES,  NKAGOS  AND  MONDIS 
—  MY  GUN  PUTS  BOTH  SIDES  TO  FLIGHT  —  A  VISIT 
FROM  THE  BASHIKOUAY  ANTS  —  EVERYTHING  FLIES 
BEFORE  THEM— WE  DRIVE  THEM  OFF  WITH  FIRE- 
BRANDS   AND    BOILING    WATER 

1  LOVED  to  walk  by  myself  in  the  great  forest, 
taking  my  smooth-bore  gun  for  birds,  with  which 
I  always  took  a  few  bullets  in  case  I  should  meet 
some  large  animals. 

One  day  as  I  walked  along  looking  at  the  butterflies 
that  were  very  plentiful  on  both  sides  of  the  path,  I 
thought  I  heard,  at  some  distance,  a  noise  among  the 
trees  ahead  as  if  monkeys  were  feeding.  Cautiously 
I  went  in  the  direction  of  the  noise.  I  had  to  leave 
the  path  and  go  through  the  jungle.  I  had  to  walk 
slowly,  with  my  body  bent,  in  order  to  be  hidden  from 
the  monkeys  and  not  to  frighten  them. 

When  I  got  near  the  trees,  I  found  that  they  were 
nkagos  feeding  and  uttering  grunts  of  satisfaction,  so 
pleased  were  they.  I  could  recognize  the  leader  of 
the  troop  on  the  lookout.  Suddenly  he  gave  a  pe- 
culiar cry  or  sound.  The  nkagos  became  verv  much 
4  49 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

excited.  Their  hair  became  erect  on  their  backs  ;  the 
sounds  or  words  they  uttered  were  quick  and  showed 
anger.     They  seemed  as  if  getting  ready  for  a  fight. 

What  was  the  cause  of  this  sudden  change  in  their 
conduct?  1  asked  myself.  I  was  soon  to  know.  I 
heard  in  the  distance  a  noise  as  if  a  troop  of  monkeys 
were  coming  in  our  direction,  the  noise  made  by  the 
bending  of  the  branches  as  the  monkeys  leaped  from 
one  to  another.      It  became  louder  and  louder. 

Soon  this  noise  was  responded  to  by  the  loud  cries 
of  the  troop  of  nkagos  near  me.  The  monkeys  that 
were  approaching  answered  them,  and  I  recognized 
their  cries  to  be  those  of  the  mondis.  They  knew 
the  tree  and  had  come  to  feed  upon  its  fruits.  They 
were  too  late.  The  best  had  been  eaten  by  the 
nkagos,  who  also  knew  the  time  when  the  fruits  were 
to  be  ripe  and  had  come  ahead  of  the  mondis. 

The  mondis  were  furious,  and  advanced  boldly 
towards  the  tree,  led  by  their  old  and  trusted  chiefs. 
The  nkagos  had  made  up  their  minds  to  fight  and 
finish  the  repast  they  had  begun.  They  had  not 
yet  filled  their  pouches.  The  mondis  jumped  on 
the  tree,  and  a  fight  ensued  among  all  the  monkeys. 
There  were  terrible  shrieks  and  some  pretty  hard 
bitings.  The  nkagos  were  getting  the  worst  of  the 
fight,  when   I  raised  my  gun,  aiming  at  a  mondi  that 

50 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

had  just  finished  a  fight  with  a  nkago.  Bang  went 
my  gun.  There  were  general  cries  of  fright  among 
the  mondis  and  the  nkagos,  and  both  sides  fled  with 
the  greatest  precipitation,  each  troop,  however,  going 
in  a  different  direction. 

In  the  meantime  the  mondi  I  had  fired  at  had 
fallen  to  the  ground  with  a  great  crash,  dead.  It  was 
a  very  fine  big  one,  covered  with  long  black  glossy 
hair  as  it  was.  I  thought  I  would  remain  hidden  and 
see  if  the  monkeys  would  come  back. 

After  about  two  hours  I  heard  a  noise  through  the 
branches.  I  looked  up  and  saw  a  solitary  mondi. 
He  uttered  a  cry  of  distress,  calling  upon  his  mate 
that  had    been  killed. 

Spying  her  dead  body  lying  on  the  ground,  he 
came  to  her,  and  uttered  low  mutterings  of  distress  as 
he  saw  that  she  was  dead.  I  shouted,  and  he  fled. 
I  carried  the  dead  mondi  to  our  camp,  and  as  it 
weighed  I  judged  about  forty  pounds,  I  was  glad 
when   I  arrived  and  laid  it  on  the  ground. 

Several  days  after  this,  being  in  the  forest  but  not 
far  away  from  the  camp,  I  saw  a  leopard  running 
quickly  in  front  of  me  with  one  of  her  cubs  in  her 
mouth.  I  wondered  at  this,  for  it  was  so  unusual 
to  see  a  leopard  out  of  her  lair  in  the  daytime.  She 
was  evidently  taking  her  cubs  away  for  some  reason. 

51 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

I  had  not  walked  a  hundred  feet  further  when  I  saw 
the  leopard's  mate  running  in  front  of  me  with  a  cub 
in  his  mouth  also. 

I  wondered  again  why  the  leopards  were  moving 
away  from  their  lair.  I  soon  found  out.  Other 
animals,  and  even  snakes,  were  all  fleeing  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  leopards.  This,  and  the  flight  of 
insects  themselves,  told  me  that  an  army  of  bashi- 
kouay  ants  was  advancing,  attacking  every  living 
thing  before  them.  I  ran  towards  the  plantation  as 
fast  as  I  could. 

Soon  Andekko,  who  had  gone  into  the  forest  by 
himself,  made  his  appearance.  He  was  perfectly  wild. 
The  poor  dog  was  crying,  moaning,  and  rolling  him- 
self on  the  ground  to  scratch  his  body,  on  which  were 
numbers  of  the  ants  biting  him.  During  the  night 
we  were  awakened  by  the  bites  of  the  advance  guard 
of  the  bashikouays.  They  were  in  our  houses.  There 
was  a  great  commotion  among  the  mice,  rats,  and  cock- 
roaches. They  were  surrounded  by  the  bashikouays. 
Wherever  they  fled,  there  were  the  bashikouays  to 
attack  them.  The  scorpions,  centipedes,  and  spiders 
could  not  help  themselves,  and  were  eaten  up  in  a 
short  time. 

Meanwhile  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  plantation 
were  up  and  out  of  their  houses,  the  babies  in  the 

52 


"  Boiling  ivater   and  hot   ashes   were   thrown   upon   the   ants 
and  zue  put   brands   across   their  path,'' 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

arms  of  their  mothers.  Numerous  fires  were  lighted 
everywhere.  Boiling  water  and  hot  ashes  were  thrown 
upon  the  ants  and  we  put  brands  across  their  paths. 

It  took  us  the  rest  of  the  night  to  drive  them 
away  and  disorganize  them.  We  had  killed  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  them.  The  men  could  not 
find  words  bad  enough  for  the  bashikouays.  "  Oh,'* 
said  Shinshooko,  "  these  horrid  bashikouays  will 
drive  all  the  game  away,  and  it  will  be  a  long  time 
before  it  will  return.'* 


xS,^- 


53 


CHAPTER   VIII 

ROGALa's  wife's  parrot—  I  USE  IT  AS  A  DECOY  — 
PARROTS  PROVE  TOUGH  EATING  —  THE  NGOZOS 
GROW  WARY— SHINSHOOKO  DISCOVERS  ELEPHANTS 
IN  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD  —WE  GO  AFTER  THEM 
AND     KILL     TWO. 

ROGALA'S  wife  had  a  beautiful  gray  parrot  with 
a  bright  red  tail.  The  parrot  could  talk  well 
and  say  many  things.  Every  morning  he  would  perch 
on  a  tree  and  call  upon  the  flocks  of  parrots  that  were 
flying  in  every  direction  in  search  of  food.  Once  in 
a  while  a  flock  of  these  parrots,  attracted  by  his  cries 
or  rather  speech  to  them,  would  come  and  alight  close 
by,  and  they  would  hold  a  conversation  together  for 
quite  a  while.  Poor  Ngozo  —  such  was  his  name — 
seemed  then  to  regret  much  that  his  wings  were 
clipped,  for  he  wanted  to  go  and  fly  with  his  wild 
comrades.  One  day  I  said  to  myself:  "  Andekko 
drives  game  to  me  ;  Ndova  brings  monkeys  and  finds 
fruits.  Suppose  I  use  Ngozo  as  a  decoy.  Old 
parrots  are  about  as  tough  birds  as  one  can  taste, 
but  young  ones  taste  like  pigeons." 

So   one    morning   I    lay  under   a   tree   waiting    for 
parrots  to  come.     A  few  flocks  passed  over  us,  utter- 

54 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

ing  peculiar  sounds.  What  these  meant  I  could  not 
tell,  but  they  were  afraid  to  alight.  Evidently  they 
did  not  like  the  look  of  the  house. 

At  some  distance  from  Rogala*s  house  near  a  grove 
of  plantain  trees  was  a  tree  bearing  a  red  fruit  which 
I  knew  parrots  liked  very  much.  I  told  Rogala  to 
carry  his  wife*s  parrot  under  that  tree  and  I  would 
lie  in  wait  there.  So  Ngozo  was  taken  there  by 
his  master,  and  he  began  to  talk. 

Soon  I  heard  above  our  heads  a  flock  of  parrots. 
They  came  down  upon  our  tree  and  began  to  talk 
to  our  parrot  and  feed.  When  I  saw  three  or  four 
in  such  a  position  as  to  enable  me  to  kill  them  all, 
I  fired,  and  they  fell,  and  the  others,  shrieking  with  all 
their  might,  flew  away  in  affright. 

I  went  after  the  parrots,  which  had  deep  yellow 
rings  round  their  eyes.  I  saw  that  they  were  very 
old,  but  nevertheless  I  was  glad,  for  I  would  have 
some  meat  to  eat.  I  broiled  one  on  charcoal.  When 
he  was  cooked,  he  was  so  tough  that  I  thought  he 
must  be  over  one  hundred  yeai3  old.  It  seemed  as 
if  I  were  biting  an  old  piece  of  India  rubber  or  a  piece 
of  leather. 

In  the  evening,  thinking  that  the  others  were  as  tough 
as  their  companions,  I  boiled  them,  and  I  thought  that 
I  was  going  to  have  a  good  parrot  soup.     The  soup 

55 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

was  not  bad,  but  the  parrots  were  so  tough  that  I  gave 
up  trying  to  eat  them. 

The  following  morning  we  again  put  the  parrot 
under  the  tree,  and  a  flock  alighted  in  the  same  way, 
and  I  succeeded  in  killing  two  of  them. 

In  the  afternoon  another  flock  alighted  also,  and  I 
killed  two  more.  But  after  this  no  parrots  came  near 
us,  though  a  number  of  flocks  flew  over  our  tree  and 
Ngozo  called  to  them. 

All  the  flocks  of  parrots  meet  every  evening,  and 
the  flocks  that  had  been  fired  at  had  warned  their 
fellow  ngozos  of  their  danger  and  to  take  good  care 
not  to  alight  on  that  tree. 

After  this  the  flocks  of  parrots,  as  they  passed  above 
or  near  us,  took  care  to  fly  high,  uttering  shrill  cries 
of  anger. 

One  day  while  I  was  stuffing  some  birds  I  had 
killed  in  the  morning,  and  Rogala  was  looking  at  the 
work  I  was  doing  with  great  astonishment,  Shinshooko 
made  his  appearance.  He  was  out  of  breath,  for  he 
had  been  running  fast.  As  he  saw  us,  he  shouted : 
"Jockoo!  Jockoo !   Elephants!   Elephants!" 

*'  Where  are  they  ?  "  Rogala  and  I  inquired  at  the 
same  time. 

"  Not  far  from  here,"  he  said,  speaking  with  dif- 
ficulty, for  he  was  much  out  of  breath. 

56 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

We  took  our  guns,  I  taking  "  Bulldog"  with  me. 
We  had  hardly  walked  an  hour  in  the  path,  when  we 
came  upon  numerous  elephant  tracks. 

"  They  have  gone  towards  the  river,"  whispered 
Shinshooko,  as  he  looked  in  the  direction  in  which 
their  footprints  pointed. 

When  we  came  to  the  river,  we  saw  the  canoe  with 
several  paddles.  It  did  not  take  us  long  to  embark, 
and  we  paddled  so  noiselessly  down  the  stream  that 
our  paddles  could  not  be  heard  as  they  struck  the 
water.  Before  coming  to  a  bend  which  commanded 
the  view  of  the  river  for  a  long  distance,  we  landed 
to  search  further  down.  Shinshooko  went  to  the 
extreme  end  of  the  point,  where  a  better  view  could 
be  obtained.  In  a  short  time  he  returned.  I  could 
see  by  his  face  that  he  had  good  news  to  tell  us.  He 
had  seen  the  elephants. 

We  followed  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  came  to 
a  place  where  we  saw  a  herd  of  elephants  standing 
close  together.  Foremost  was  a  large  bull  elephant, 
their  leader.  I  counted  twenty-seven  elephants.  Their 
big  ears  were  moving  continually,  and  their  trunks 
were  swinging  up  and  down.  They  were  trumpeting 
and  squealing.  Some  were  very  large.  The  bull 
seemed  to  be  about  ten  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  some 
of  the  cows  nine  and  a  half  feet. 

57 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Suddenly  the  bull  made  for  the  river.  The  others 
followed,  and  soon  they  had  a  grand  time  together  in 
the  water. 

After  watching  them  awhile,  Rogala  and  Shin- 
shooko  whispered  :  ''  Oguizi,  we  must  follow  the  river 
through  the  woods  and  get  opposite  the  elephants. 
We  walked  through  the  jungle  most  carefully  in  order 
not  to  attract  their  attention.  Fortunately  they  were 
having  such  a  noisy  time  that  they  could  not  hear  us. 
Nor  could  they  scent  us,  as  the  wind  was  in  our  favor. 
When  we  surmised  from  the  noise  they  made  in  the 
water  that  we  were  opposite  them,  we  made  for  the 
banks  of  the  river.  Finally  we  got  a  glimpse  of 
the  elephants  and  crept  to  the  water  edge.  The  bank 
of  the  river  here  was  high  and  abrupt,  so  the  elephants 
could  not  charge  us.  I  was  very  glad  of  this,  for  I 
never  felt  comfortable  when  the  huge  beast  was  bearing 
down  upon  me.  It  had  been  agreed  beforehand  that 
each  one  of  us  should  pick  out  an  elephant  and  that 
we  should  fire  at  the  same  time. 

The  elephants,  unaware  of  our  presence,  were  swim- 
ming without  any  suspicion  of  danger.  All  at  once 
the  huge  bull  turned  and  swam  towards  us.  There 
was  no  way  to  kill  him  but  by  a  forehead  shot,  that  is, 
shooting  him  between  the  eyes.  The  steel-pointed 
bullets    of  "  Bulldog "   could  do  the  work  well.     A 

58 


"  Suddenly    the  bull  made  for   the   river. 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

number  of  cow  elephants  turned  also  towards  us.  I 
pointed  out  to  Rogala  and  Shinshooko  two  of  them 
that  could  be  shot  near  the  temple  or  behind  the  ears, 
and  made  them  a  sign  that  I  was  going  to  take  a  shot 
at  the  bull. 

We  raised  our  guns.  I  looked  at  Rogala  and  Shin- 
shooko. They  were  looking  at  me  also.  We  took 
careful  aim  and  I  gave  three  clicks ;  the  third  one  was 
the  signal  to  fire.  Bang,  bang,  bang,  went  our  guns  at 
the  same  time.  I  thought  the  guns  of  my  men  had 
burst,  so  loud  was  the  detonation.  I  saw  only  a  dense 
smoke,  which  hid  them  for  a  while  from  me. 

Looking  at  the  water,  I  saw  the  bull  elephant  raise 
and  lower  his  trunk  twice ;  then  he  swam  towards 
our  bank,  which  was  so  steep  that  he  could  not  land. 
He  was  evidently  badly  wounded.  Suddenly  the  water 
around  him  became  a  mass  of  foam.  He  was  in  his 
last  struggle.  The  current  took  him  down  stream. 
The  two  cow  elephants  were  badly  wounded  and  seemed 
dazed,  but  they  succeeded  in  reaching  the  shore. 

In  the  meantime,  at  the  noise  of  the  guns,  the  herd 
took  to  the  shore  and  fled  through  the  forest,  tear- 
ing down  and  trampling  everything  in  the  jungle 
that  obstructed  their  flight. 

We  went  for  our  canoe,  and  after  descending  the  river 
we  saw  the  big  bull  elephant  stranded.     What  a  huge 

59 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

beast  he  was  !     He  had  two  enormous  tusks,  but,  as  was 
ahvays  the  case,  they  were  not  of  the  same  length  and 


weight. 


We  left  the  bull,  and  went  into  the  forest  in  search 
of  the  two  cow  elephants,  for  Rogala  and  Shinshooko 
were  sure  that  they  had  wounded  them  and  that  they 
had  probably  died  in  the  forest  not  far  from  the  place 
where  they  were  shot. 

We  had  landed  where  we  had  seen  them  leave  the 
river,  and  saw  some  blood  on  the  ground.  Following 
their  tracks,  we  came  to  a  dead  cow  elephant. 

"  Let  us  go  after  the  other  one,"  said  the  two  men. 

In  the  meantime  they  had  reloaded  their  guns.  We 
followed  the  track  the  other  cow  elephant  had  left  be- 
hind. After  a  short  time  we  came  up  with  her,  seated 
apparently  on  her  knees.  As  soon  as  she  saw  us  she 
got  up  to  charge,  but  she  had  not  gone  five  steps  when 
she  fell  dead. 

Then  we  went  back  to  the  plantation,  and  the 
following  day  all,  including  the  women,  returned 
with  axes  and  baskets  to  get  the  tusks,  and  as  much 
of  the  meat  as  we  could. 

The  huge  tusks  of  the  bull  were  imbedded  in  his 
head  over  thirty-one  inches,  so  there  were  only  about 
four  feet  of  the  tusk  outside.  He  was  ten  feet  in 
height,  and  had  fine  big  ears.     The  hair  on  his  tail 

60 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

was  long  and  coarse.  One  of  his  tusks  weighed  sixty- 
nine  pounds,  the  other  sixty-two.  The  tusks  of  the 
cow  elephants  were  smaller,  the  biggest  not  weighing 
more  than  twenty-nine  pounds. 

Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Alapai  danced  round  the 
elephants  and  cut  their  tails  off,  to  add  to  the  number 
they  had.  Then  we  made  for  the  plantation  with 
all  the  meat  our  canoes  could  carry.  A  big  platform 
was  built  to  smoke  the  meat.  We  fed  on  elephant 
meat  for  a  time,  but  it  was  far  from  being  as  good  as 
monkey  flesh. 


6i 


CHAPTER    IX 

WE  BUILD  A  FORTIFIED  CAMP  IN  THE  DEPTHS  OF 
THE  FOREST  —  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  CAMP— LAYING 
IN  STORES  OF  PROVISIONS  —  KOOLA  NUTS  —  SOURCE 
OF    MY    INFLUENCE    OVER    THE    NATIVES 

ONE  evening  as  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  Alapai,  and 
I  were  seated  around  a  blazing  fire,  we  talked 
about  gorillas,  elephants,  and  other  big  game,  and 
determined  to  go  and  build  an  "  olako  "  camp  in  the 
deep  and  gloomy  recesses  of  the  forest,  taking  with  us 
Andekko  and  Ndova. 

The  following  day  the  women  put  a  large  quantity 
of  cassava  roots  or  manioc  in  the  stream  running 
near  Rogala's  house  ;  these  were  to  remain  in  the  water 
three  days,  after  which  they  were  to  be  cut,  pounded, 
cooked,  and  made  into  cakes. 

I  was  short  of  soap ;  so  my  hunters  collected  a 
quantity  of  palm  nuts,  the  kind  from  which  palm  oil 
is  made.  These  nuts  we  boiled  until  the  pulp  be- 
came quite  soft.  Then  the  women  pounded  the  nuts 
in  wooden  mortars,  and  the  pulp  furnished  the  oil. 
I  then  gathered  all  the  ashes  from  the  fires,  boiled 
these  for  a  long  time,  then   leaving  the  ashes  at  the 

62 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

bottom  of  the  vessel,  took  the  water  and  boiled  it 
with  a  certain  amount  of  palm  oil.  By  this  process  I 
made  soft  soap. 

I  had  to  wash  my  own  clothes,  for  not  only  did  the 
people  not  know  how,  but  in  one  sense  did  not  know 
what  clean  linen  was.  They  could  not  tell  whether 
my  clothes  were  soiled  or  not.  I  did  not  wonder, 
seeing  the  way  they  made  their  toilet.  After  taking 
a  bath,  they  rubbed  their  bodies  with  oil  mixed  with 
clay,  or  with  oil  mixed  with  the  powder  of  odoriferous 
woods.  This  was  what  they  called  making  themselves 
clean. 

The  wives  of  the  men  and  the  children  were  to  go 
with  us  to  help  carry  the  food  to  our  camp  ;  and 
when  the  day  of  our  departure  arrived,  three  canoes 
were  loaded  with  food,  bunches  of  plantain,  and  our 
outfit. 

We  had  four  axes  with  us,  queer-looking  ones, 
several  machetes,  two  sharpening  stones,  and  ammu- 
nition;  above  all,  my  "precious  box"  with  its  inval- 
uable instruments. 

Our  party  divided  and  went  in  different  canoes. 

After  ascending  the  river  for  a  few  hours,  we 
stopped  by  a  path  which  had  led  formerly  to  the 
village  of  Rotembo's  slaves.  There  we  camped,  land- 
ing   our    outfit.       A     few    miles    further    navigation 

63 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

stopped.  We  lighted  many  fires,  and  the  men  col- 
lected branches  of  trees  for  me  to  sleep  upon. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  got  ready  to  start.  We 
followed  in  single  file  the  footpath  —  which  was  almost 
obliterated,  for  it  was  seldom  used  now  except  for 
hunting  —  and  passed  through  former  plantations  of 
plantain  and  cassava,  now  covered  with  a  dense  im- 
penetrable jungle,  far  worse  than  any  part  of  the 
forest. 

The  walking  was  very  tedious,  for  since  the  path 
had  been  used  but  seldom,  numerous  trees  or  their 
branches  had  fallen  across  it.  We  halted  a  little 
after  midday  to  rest  and  to  eat  near  a  lonely  crystal- 
like little  rivulet  from  which  we  could  get  delicious 
water  to  drink.  Then  we  continued  our  way  until 
almost  sunset. 

Rogala,  who  was  leading,  suddenly  stopped,  and  I 
followed  his  example.  The  rest  of  the  party,  who 
were  behind,  gradually  came  up  with  us  one  by  one. 
Then  the  men  said  :  "  Here,  Oguizi,  we  are  to  build 
our  camp,"  pointing  to  a  little  spring  bubbling  out 
of  the   ground. 

I  said  to  myself:  "We  need  not  bother  about 
water  if  we  are  besieged  in  our  camp,  for  the  spring 
will   be  within   our  enclosure." 

We  slept  under  the  trees,  and  the  next  morning  we 

64 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

were  all  at  work  getting  material  for  our  camp.  The 
men  went  to  cut  poles ;  the  women  carried  them  to 
the  camping-ground,  or  went  after  leaves  to  be 
twisted  into  ropes. 

The  cutting  of  long  poles  was  the  most  laborious 
work,  for  a  great  many  were  required.  The  axes  had 
to  be  sharpened  many  times.  But  after  much  hard  toil 
we  succeeded  in  making  a  fortified  encampment  forty 
feet  square,  with  the  spring  in  one  of  the  corners. 

After  that  we  built  separate  shelters  for  every  one 
of  those  who  were  to  remain  behind,  to  sleep  under ; 
then  a  little  house  made  entirely  of  sticks  close  to- 
gether for  Ndova,  in  which  we  were  to  shut  him  when 
we  went  into  the  forest  without  him,  so  that  he  might 
be  protected  from  snakes,  or  birds  of  prey,  such  as 
eagles,  or  carnivorous  animals.  Then  we  made  two 
ladders  with  lianas.  They  were  almost  as  flexible  as 
if  they  had  been  ropes  made  of  hemp.  One  was  to 
hang  inside  and  the  other  outside.  I  made  two 
shelters  to  keep  our  powder  in,  for  I  did  not  want  to 
have  the  whole  of  it  in  one  place  in  case  of  fire.  We 
cut  all  kinds  of  briars,  thorn-bushes,  big  aloes,  and 
small  branches  of  trees,  and  put  them  outside  the 
fence  for  quite  a  distance,  so  that  if  any  one  came 
through  them,  no  matter  how  careful  he  might  be,  we 
should  hear  them. 

5  65 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

In  the  centre  of  our  encampment  was  a  tree  from 
which  we  could  look  over  the  fence,  and  we  left  uncut 
two  thick  bushes  in  which  we  could  hide. 

I  said  to  Rogala :  "  My  'precious  box*  must  not  re- 
main on  the  ground,  for  the  white  ants  (nchelaylays) 
are  sure  to  eat  the  wood  at  the  bottom  and  penetrate 
within.  So  we  will  hang  it  to  a  branch  of  a  young 
tree,  where  it  will  be  safe,  for,  as  you  know,  the  white 
ants  never  ascend  a  green  tree-trunk." 

There  was  a  koola  tree  close  to  our  encampment, 
and  we  collected  the  nuts  that  had  fallen.  These 
were  to  be  kept  in  reserve,  and  were  to  be  eaten  only 
in  case  of  starvation  and  not  otherwise.  For  I  did 
not  know  what  might  happen ;  fierce  natives  might 
find  us  out,  and  lie  in  wait  for   us  and    besiege   us. 

"  Woe  to  any  one  who  attacks  us,"  I  exclaimed  to 
my  men. 

"  Yes,"  shouted  Rogala,  his  eyes  shining  with 
fierceness,  "  woe  to  them,  for  the  Oguizi  will  show 
them   how   he   fights." 

It  was  good  for  me  that  these  wild  men  thought  I 
was  endowed  with  extraordinary  power.  I  never  told 
them  I  was  an  Oguizi,  or  spirit,  but  I  never  told  them 
I  was  not.  My  safety  depended  entirely  on  their 
superstitious  regard  for  me.  If  it  had  not  been  so, 
and  if  they    had  thought  I  was  a  man  like  themselves, 

66 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

I  should  not  have  lived  to  tell  the  tale  of  my 
wanderings. 

After  five  days  of  hard  work  our  encampment  was 
finished.  By  that  time  almost  all  our  plantains  had 
been  eaten  up,  but  we  had  all  the  cassava,  and  the  cakes 
of  it  would  last  us  a  goodly  number  of  days. 

The  women  and  the  children  now  thought  of  return- 
ing home.  We  followed  them  as  far  as  the  river.  They 
were  soon  in  their  canoes,  taking  only  two  with  them. 
The  other  was  left  for  us  to  use  on  our  return.  We 
bade  them  good-bye,  and  soon  they  were  out  of  sight. 
Then  we  hid  our  canoe  in  the  forest. 


61 


CHAPTER   X 

I  TAKE  A  SWIM  IN  A  CRYSTAL  POOL  —  DRIVEN  OUT 
BY  A  HUGE  SNAKE  — I  KILL  THE  SNAKE  —  CAMP- 
FIRE  TALK— HOW  TO  HUNT  —  IMPORTANCE  OF 
SILENCE      AND     NOISELESS    MOVEMENTS 

AFTER  the  departure  of  the  women  and  children 
my  hunters  busied  themselves  in  making  traps  to 
catch  animals.  I  discovered  not  far  from  our  camp  a 
beautiful  rivulet  of  clear  water,  which  had  a  little  water- 
fall, below  which  was  a  deep  pool  and  a  very  good 
place  for  a  swim.  On  my  return  to  the  camp  I  told 
Rogala  of  my  discovery.  He  replied  :  "  Oguizi,  look 
out  for  snakes  when  you  bathe,  for  there  are  several 
kinds  of  snakes  that  are  very  fond  of  being  in  the  water. 
Some  of  these  are  very  poisonous." 

"  I  will  look  out  sharply  for  them,  Rogala.  They 
can  be  easily  seen,  as  the  water  is  so  clear,*'  I  replied. 

Then  I  took  a  shot-gun  with  me,  with  a  few  bullets  for 
emergency,  in  case  of  a  large  animal  making  its  appear- 
ance suddenly,  and  left  the  camp  for  a  swim,  Rogala 
recommending  me  once  more  to  look  out  for  snakes. 

When  I  came  to  the  stream,  I  hung  my  clothes  on 
the  branch  of  a  tree,  put  my  gun  near  the  water  so  that 

68 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

^   could  seize  it  in  an  instant   if  necessary,  and    two 
ullets  by   its  side. 

I  went  first  under  the  waterfall.      It  was  very  re- 

•eshing,  for  not  a  breath  of  air  could  be  felt.     Then 

I    looked    in    the   pool.      No    snake   was    there,    but 

ist   as  I    was   ready  to  take   a  plunge  I   saw  a   big 

ne  creeping  along  the  ground.      I   had  hardly  time 

3   look  at   the  reptile   before   it   was    in    the   water. 

The  ugly  creature  was  black,  and  yellow  under  the 

tomach  —  his  head  was  triangular,  thus  showing  that* 

le   was   venomous  —  and  about   ten    feet   in    length. 

The  water  did  not  appear  to  me  nice  any  more.      I 

ushed  after  my  gun,  then  looked  at  the  snake,  which 

7as  swimming  very  fast  and  had  the  same  motion  as 

.n  eel.     I  dressed  myself  quickly,  then,  gun  in  hand, 

I   watched  for    him   to    swim   to   the    surface   of  the 

^ater.      I  had  not   to  wait  long  before  he  appeared, 

•vhen  I  fired  the  load  of  small  shot,  broke  his  back, 

.nd  the  reptile  sank  to  the  bottom. 

Soon  after  I  saw  Rogala  through  the  jungle  coming 
owards  me.  He  had  heard  the  report  of  the  gun,  and 
:ame  to  see  if  I  had  killed  anything.  I  pointed  to  the 
bottom  of  the  pool.  When  he  saw  the  snake,  a  broad 
rrin  of  delight  came  over  his  face  and  he  said :  "  The 
snake  is  big  and  fat,  and  we  shall  have  plenty  to  eat.'* 
He  cut  a  long,  slender,  cane-like  tree,  and  succeeded 

69 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

with  it  in  dragging  the  snake  ashore.  Then  we  re- 
turned to  the  camp. 

Soon  after  a  large  piece  of  the  snake  was  boiling,  and 
Rogala  was  to  have  snake  broth.  I  gave  him  a  little 
salt  to  mix  with  it,  to  his  great  delight.  When  very 
hungry  and  having  nothing  else^  to  eat,  I  often  had  to 
be  contented  with  a  meal  of  snake,  but  that  day  I  had 
something  else  to  eat. 

In  the  evening,  as  we  were  seated  by  a  bright  fire  that 
illumined  our  camp,  my  men  filled  their  pipes  with 
tobacco,  lighted  them,  and  after  a  few  puffs  Rogala 
broke  the  silence,  and  said  :  "  Oguizi,  while  we  are 
hunting  in  the  forest  we  must  not  talk,  but  call  each 
other's  attention  by  a  ^  click,  click,'  which  means  with 
us  poor  black  men  to  be  on  the  lookout,  to  listen,  as 
we  must  be  very  sly,  like  wild  beasts,  and  walk  as 
noiselessly  as  a  leopard  in  search  of  prey.  As  we 
walk  along,  our  eyes  must  be  everywhere,  our  ears  must 
listen.  Unfortunately  men  have  only  two  eyes  ;  it  is 
a  pity  they  have  not  two  other  eyes  at  the  back  of  their 
heads.  Often  men  hide  themselves  behind  a  tree,  and 
when  you  have  passed  they  throw  a  spear  at  you. 
Hungry  leopards  often  watch  at  the  dusk  of  the  day 
by  the  springs  where  women  get  their  water  and  then 
leap  upon  them.  But  above  all,  let  us  try  to  be  as 
noiseless   when  we  go  through   the  jungle  as  a  fish 

70 


'^  Gun   in   hand^  I  ivatched  for   him   to  swim   to   the   surf  a 
of  the  water''' 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

swimming  through  the  water.  No  man  can  hear  a 
fish  swim." 

"  It  is  so,'*  shouted  Shinskooko  and  Alapai,  in 
approval  of  what  Rogala  had  said. 

Then  we  thought  it  was  time  to  go  to  sleep.  As  I 
looked  round,  I  saw  that  Ndova  was  asleep  with  his 
head  hanging  down,  and  that  Andekko  was  stretched 
at  full  length  by  one  of  the  fires  that  were  burning 
round  our  shelters. 


71 


CHAPTER   XI 

ANOTHER  EXCURSION  —  FOOTPRINTS  OF  GORILLAS  (nGI- 
NAS)  —  LISTENING  TO  THE  MONSTERS*  ROARING 
—  TWO  OF  THEM  CALLING  TO  EACH  OTHER— THEY 
GRADUALLY  DRAW  NEAR  TO  EACH  OTHER  AND  TO 
US  — THEY  MEET  AND  WE  SLEEP  IN  THE  FOREST- 
SUDDEN  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  MALE  NGINA— KILL- 
ING   OF    THE    NGINA    AND    HIS    MATE 

WE  were  up  early,  and  had  all  slept  well.  After 
our  breakfast  we  started,  but  before  doing  so 
we  hid  our  ladder  and  also  an  axe  as  a  precaution  in 
case  our  abode  should  be  discovered  and  our  ladder 
Stolen. 

Shinshooko  and  Alapai  were  to  visit  the  traps  to 
see  if  any  game  had  been  caught.  Rogala  and  I  were 
to  reconnoitre  and  see  where  the  game  was  to  be  found. 
Ndova  and  Andekko  remained  in  the  camp. 

We  had  been  gone  about  two  hours,  and  had  seen 
several  footprints  of  gorillas  ;  so  we  knew  that  they 
were  in  the  neighborhood.  Suddenly  Rogala  stopped, 
and  said  in  a  whisper :  "  Oguizi,  listen." 

His  quick  ear  had  heard  a  noise  far,  far  away.  I 
listened,  and  soon  heard  what  I  thought  was  the  re- 
verberation of  thunder  among  the  hills.     The  noise 

;2 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

seemed  to  be  on  our  right.  Rogala  listened  atten- 
tively, and  then  whispered  "Ngina "  (gorilla).  The 
noise  was  made  by  a  gorilla  and  was  renewed  from 
time  to  time. 

While  listening,  Rogala's  quick  sense  of  hearing 
caught  another  noise  in  the  far  distance,  this  time  on 
the  left,  somewhat  similar  to  the  one  on  the  right. 
He  listened  attentively  and  then  said,  "  Ngina."  It 
was  another  ngina,  who  was  answering  the  talk  of 
her  mate. 

Then  he  whispered  to  me  :  "  Oguizi,  there  are  two 
nginas  talking  to  each  other,  the  one  on  our  right  is 
the  man  ngina,  the  one  on  our  left  is  the  woman  ngina, 
and  she  answers  him.'* 

They  were  a  few  miles  from  each  other,  and  we  were 
about  midway  between  the  two.  We  followed  the 
path  which  seemed  to  be  half-way  between  them, 
looking  at  our  guns  carefully  in  order  to  be  ready  for 
any  emergency. 

As  we  walked,  we  could  hear  them  talk  to  each 
other,  one  answering  after  the  other  stopped.  It  was 
a  real  ngina  conversation.  I  could  detect  the  differ- 
ent intonations. 

We  walked  several  miles,  all  the  time  hearing  the 
two  gorillas  continuously  talking  to  each  other.  Ro- 
gala said  to  me  :  "  There  is  not  food  enough  for  the 

73 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

two  together,   so   they   have    separated  in  order  that 
each  may  have  enough  to  eat." 

After  a  while  their  voices  came  nearer  and  nearer, 
and  our  position  became,  I  thought,  dangerous. 

Rogala  said  in  a  very  low  tone :  "  The  nginas  are 
going  to  meet  before  night ;  for  they  will  sleep  very 
near  together." 

Louder  and  louder  their  guttural  roar-like  sounds 
came.  At  last  they  seemed  to  be  abreast  of  us,  one 
on  either  side.  I  asked  Rogala  in  a  very  low  tone : 
"  Have  the  nginas  scented  us  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  replied  in  a  whisper ;  "  they  are  talking 
to  each  other,  and  will  gradually  meet  as  they  come 
along  picking  berries  and  fruits.  The  nginas  can 
see  wonderfully  well  through  the  jungle.  So  let  us 
stand  perfectly  still. 

"  The  female  ngina  always  runs  away,"  continued 
Rogala.  "It  is  the  male  ngina  that  fights,  but  both 
are  afraid  of  noise,  and  when  they  hear  it  they  go  in 
an  opposite  direction.  It  is  only  when  the  male  is 
suddenly  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  a  man  that 
he  attacks  him,  or  when  he  is  tired  of  being  followed 
or  tracked.  Then  he  makes  a  stand.  Then  it  is  a 
fight  for  life." 

There  was  no  mistake.  The  nginas  were  abreast 
of  us,  and  we  were  not  more  than  half  a  mile  from 

74 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

each.  But  soon  the  voices  or  sounds  gradually  seemed 
to  be  ahead  of  us  and  became  more  and  more  distant. 
They  had  passed  us. 

"  After  they  meet,"  said  Rogala,  "  the  female  ngina, 
as  it  is  getting  late,  will  go  up  a  tree  to  sleep  with  her 
baby  if  she  has  one,  and  the  big  fellow  will  sleep 
at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  his  back  resting  against  its 
trunk,  and  there  keep  watch.  We  will  sleep  in  the 
forest  to-night.  We  have  koola  nuts  in  our  bags, 
and  we  will  eat  these  for  our  evening  and  morn- 
ing meals,  and  we  will  go  after  the  nginas  to-morrow 
at  daybreak." 

The  nginas'  tremendous  voices  gradually  died  away, 
till  one  might  have  thought  it  was  the  dying  reverber- 
ation in  the  far  distance  of  claps  of  thunder. 

We  slept  at  the  foot  of  a  large  tree,  and  made  a 
very  small  fire,  for  we  did  not  dare  to  sleep  without 
one.     We  had  collected  the  firewood  very  quietly. 

At  daylight  we  were  up,  and  followed  the  path 
leading  towards  the  place  where  we  thought  the  goril- 
las had  slept.  We  had  walked  several  miles,  and  I 
was  ahead  of  Rogala,  when  suddenly  I  thought  I 
heard  the  breaking  of  branches  ahead  of  me.  Could 
it  be  possible  that  a  camp  of  natives  was  on  our  way. 
I  thought  perhaps  I  had  made  a  mistake,  and  that 
the  noise  had  been  made  by  elephants  either  breaking 

75 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

branches  with  their  trunks  or  trampling  in  the  jungle 
and  breaking  the  saplings  in  their  path.  I  lay  flat, 
putting  my  ear  to  the  ground,  but  did  not  hear  the 
heavy  footsteps  of  elephants.  I  got  up  and  said  to 
myself:  "  It  is  a  heavy  dead  limb  of  a  tree  that  fell 
and  was  the  cause  of  the  noise  I  heard."  Neverthe- 
less I  walked  more  slowly  to  give  time  to  Rogala  to 
overtake  me.  I  had  gone  but  a  little  way  when  I 
heard  the  breaking  of  another  sapling  or  tree-branch ; 
then  I  stopped  and  waited  for  Rogala. 

Soon  after  I  saw  him  coming,  and  I  gave  the  "  click  " 
warning,  made  with  my  tongue  striking  my  palate. 

At  this  sign  Rogala  stood  still.  I  beckoned  him  to 
come  to  me.  I  could  not  hear  his  footsteps  as  he 
walked  towards  me.  No  leopard  or  night  prowler  in 
search  of  prey  could  have  made  less  noise. 

As  he  came  near  me,  I  put  one  of  the  fingers  of  my 
right  hand  upon  my  lips.  This  meant,  "  Be  silent,  do 
not  say  a  word."  Then  I  put  my  left  hand  to  my 
ear;  that  meant,  "Listen." 

We  remained  silent  looking  anxiously  at  each  other. 
Suddenly  another  breaking  of  a  limb  of  a  tree  was 
heard.  Rogala  knew  the  cause  of  the  noise,  and 
whispered,  "  Ngina." 

We  looked  at  each  other  without  saying  a  word, 
then  looked  at  our  guns.     They  were  all  right.     Then 

76 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Rogala  took  the  lead,  and  followed  the  path,  for  the 
noise  we  heard  came  from  that  direction. 

After  a  short  walk  we  saw  the  branches  of  a  tree 
moving  and  being  swayed  to  and  fro  by  the  ngina. 
The  tree  was  loaded  with  large  fruits  of  the  size  of 
oranges.  The  monster  was  breaking  the  branches, 
and  when  they  had  fallen  on  the  ground  plucked 
the  fruit. 

The  jungle  was  so  thick  around  the  tree  that  we 
could  not  see  the  huge  creature.  So  we  lay  flat  on 
the  ground,  and  advanced  towards  the  tree,  separating 
the  jungle  on  the  right  or  on  the  left  as  we  made  our 
way  towards  the  monster. 

I  was  so  excited  that  I  could  hear  my  heart  beat ; 
then  I  stopped. 

The  rustling  ceased.  We  looked  round  and  listened. 
There  was  no  more  noise.  All  was  silent ;  not  even 
the  note  of  a  bird  or  the  pecking  of  a  woodpecker 
was  heard. 

I  was  just  concluding  that  the  huge  creature  had 
departed,  when  suddenly  we  heard  on  our  left  three 
most  terrific  yells  following  each  other  In  succession. 
These  yells  were  followed  by  roars  that  filled  the  for- 
est with  their  din.  I  looked  in  the  direction  with  my 
rifle  ready  to  fire.  Then  I  saw  peeping  through  the 
leaves   a  black   fierce  face  looking   at  us.     It  was  a 

77 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

horrid  sight.  The  brute's  eyes  were  sunken,  while 
a  heavy  overhanging  ridge  was  over  each.  He  gave 
vent  to  yell  after  yell,  resembling  somewhat  the  bark- 
ing of  an  angry  dog,  but  seeming  to  me  a  thousand 
times  louder.  These  were  followed  by  terrific  roars, 
somewhat  similar  to  those  of  lions,  but  louder.  They 
reverberated  through  the  forest,  from  hill  to  hill,  and 
died  away  in  the  distance.  The  forest  was  filled  with 
the  echo  of  his  horrid  voice. 

Then  his  whole  body  came  in  sight ;  he  was  advanc- 
ing towards  us,  walking  erect,  to  kill  us.  His  short 
legs  were  scarcely  strong  enough  to  support  his  huge 
body.  All  at  once  he  stopped  and  looked  at  us. 
How  vindictive  his  eyes  looked !  They  seemed  to 
say  to  us  :  "  You  will  soon  be  dead." 

Then  he  beat  his  chest  with  his  huge  fist.  How 
long  and  muscular  were  his  powerful  arms !  How 
broad  was  his  chest !  His  hair  stood  almost  erect 
on  his  body,  and  the  hair  on  his  head  moved  up 
and  down. 

But  our  guns  had  been  pointed  at  him  from  the 
moment  we  saw  him,  and  just  as  he  was  ready  to 
advance  we  fired  in  the  direction  of  his  heart,  and  the 
great  monster  fell  like  a  human  being,  face  forward, 
uttering  a  fearful  groan,  his  limbs  stretched  out. 
Then  all  became  silent.     He  was  dead. 

78 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

His  arms  extended  measured  nearly  nine  feet ; 
around  his  chest  measured  nearly  seven  feet.  He 
was  nearly  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height.  We  skinned 
him  on  the  spot,  and  hung  his  skin  and  skeleton  on  a 
branch  of  a  tree. 

The  following  morning  we  went  after  the  skin  and 
skeleton  of  the  big  beast  Rogala  and  I  had  killed.  I 
put  arsenic  on  the  skin  and  stuffed  it  with  dry  leaves. 


79 


CHAPTER    XII 

NDOVA    AS    A    TEST   OF    POISONOUS    FRUITS    AND    BERRIES 

—  HE     DISCOVERS    A    BEEHIVE—  A     FEAST     OF    HONEY 

—  ANDEKKO'S  USEFULNESS  IN  HUNTING  —  KOOLA 
NUTS  — WE  KILL  TWO  WILD  BOARS  —  CAPTURE  OF 
A    BABY    "  MAN    OF    THE    WOODS  '' 

ONE  day  while  out  shooting  birds,  I  came  to  a 
part  of  the  forest  where  I  saw  several  kinds  of 
fruits  and  berries  I  had  never  seen  before.  Some 
were  beautiful  to  look  at  and  very  tempting,  but  I 
did  not  dare  to  eat  them  for  fear  that  they  might  be 
poisonous. 

Remembering  what  Rotembo  had  told  me  about 
Ndova  and  other  monkeys,  —  that  they  never  made 
a  mistake  in  regard  to  fruits,  berries,  or  nuts,  and 
never  ate  those  that  were  poisonous,  and  threw 
them  away  if  given  to  them,  —  I  determined  to  go 
back  to  our  camp  and  bring  Ndova  with  me,  and 
show  him  the  fruits. 

The  following  morning  I  took  Ndova  with  me, 
leading  him  by  a  cord,  for  I  was  afraid  of  his  run- 
ning away.  When  I  came  to  that  part  of  the  forest 
where  I  had  seen  so  many  berries,  I   tied  Ndova  to 

80 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

a  tree,  and  went  to  collect  them.  On  my  return  I 
gave  the  most  tempting  one  to  Ndova.  He  smelt 
of  it  and  threw  it  away,  giving  at  the  same  time  that 
peculiar  grunt  of  dissatisfaction  which  he  always  uttered 
when  things  did  not  please  him.  I  gave  him  one  of 
another  kind  with  the  same  result.  I  began  to  think 
that  all  the  berries  I  had  collected  were  poisonous.  I 
gave  him  a  third  one.  He  smelt  of  it  and  gave  it  a 
bite  to  taste  it,  then  ate  the  rest  with  sounds  of  pleas- 
ure very  unlike  the  grunts  he  had  uttered  before. 
Then  I  took  him  to  the  place  where  there  were  many 
of  these  berries.     He  ate  a  lot,  and  filled  his  pouches. 

I  myself  ate  many  of  these  berries.  They  tasted 
very  good.  I  was  no  longer  afraid  to  eat  them,  for 
what  was  good  for  the  monkey  was  good  for  me. 

After  a  while  I  gave  Ndova  a  berry  of  another 
kind,  which  he  also  ate.  Seeing  this,  I  put  one  in 
my  mouth,  but  took  it  out  quickly  it  tasted  so  bit- 
ter. So  I  found  that  Ndova  and  I  had  sometimes 
not  the  same  taste,  and  that  some  of  the  fruits,  ber- 
ries, or  nuts  he  ate,  though  they  were  not  poisonous, 
were  very  unpalatable  to  me.  But  afterwards  in 
other  expeditions  I  had  to  eat  them  in  order  not 
to  die  of  starvation. 

The  next  morning  Rogala  and  I  took  Ndova  with 
us  into  the  forest,  and  let  him  stay  by  himself.      But 
6  8i 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

in  a  short  time  he  returned.  He  was  in  a  very  angry- 
mood,  expressed  by  peculiar  sounds ;  his  hair  stood 
up  straight,  a  sign  that  he  was  afraid  and  angry.  Not 
knowing  what  the  cause  could  be,  we  made  ready  for 
any  emergency,  and  then  went  towards  the  place  from 
which  he  had  come.  Soon  we  were  rewarded  by  the 
sight  of  a  number  of  bees  round  a  big  hole  in  a  tree. 
Ndova  had  discovered  a  beehive,  and,  having  been 
stung  by  bees  before,  he  had  come  back  to  us.  We 
were  delighted  and  made  preparations  to  smoke  the 
bees  out  and  get  the  honey.  We  did  so,  and  there 
was  a  large  quantity  of  it.  We  were  so  hungry  that 
we  ate  the  wax  and  dead  bees  and  the  honey  all  to- 
gether.    Ndova  ate  heartily  with  us. 

After  we  had  had  our  feast  I  petted  Ndova  and  said 
to  him  :  "  Ndova,  you  have  found  honey  for  us,  now 
help  us  to  find  some  berries.'' 

We  continued  our  walk,  and  soon  came  upon  fruit- 
bearing  trees.  I  gave  one  of  the  fruits  to  Ndova,  but 
he  threw  it  away,  giving  a  grunt  of  anger  or  dissatis- 
faction at  the  same  time.  These  fruits  were  red  and 
looked  very  tempting.  I  petted  Ndova  again,  and 
said :  "  Thank  you,  Ndova,  for  showing  me  that  this 
beautiful  fruit  is  poisonous.*' 

Further  on  I  saw  some  nuts  at  the  foot  of  a  tree. 
I  broke  one  and  gave  it  to  Ndova.     He  ate  it;  so 

82 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

the  nuts  were  good.  We  took  a  quantity  of  these 
with  us.  Nuts  are  far  more  nutritious  than  berries, 
and  more  wholesome. 

We  returned  to  the  camp  and  were  received  with 
great  demonstrations  of  joy  by  Andekko.  Ndova 
made  at  once  for  Andekko  and  got  on  his  back. 
Andekko  lay  down,  and  Ndova  began  to  play  with 
his  hair.  They  had  a  grand  time  together,  for  An- 
dekko loved  to  be  scratched. 

After  this  I  constantly  took  Ndova  with  me,  and 
found  him  very  useful  in  finding  berries,  and  some- 
times he  walked  by  my  side  or  rested  on  my  shoulders 
without  being  tied.  One  day  he  ascended  a  tree  full 
of  small  ripe  fruits,  uttered  grunts  of  contentment  at 
his  discovery,  and  began  to  eat  while  I  was  looking  at 
him.  As  I  stood  under  the  tree  to  get  some  of  the 
fruits  that  fell  on  the  ground,  I  wondered  whether 
Ndova  threw  them  at  me  intentionally  or  not.  I 
picked  them  up  and  tasted  them.  I  found  that  they 
had  a  pleasant  acid  taste.  After  a  while  Ndova  came 
down  the  tree  with  the  pouch  on  each  side  of  his 
cheeks  stretched  to  the  utmost  and  filled  with  a  stock 
of  the  fruits  to  be  eaten  when  hungry. 

I  had  noticed  that  Ndova  was  apparently  always 
hungry,  for  monkeys  can  eat  all  the  time. 

We  continued  our  way,  and  it  was  not  long  before 

83 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Ndova  began  to  take  food  from  his  pouches,  and  he 
soon  emptied  them.  He  seemed  contented  and  happy  ; 
he  evidently  liked  very  much  the  fruits  he  had  eaten. 

While  we  were  taking  our  breakfast,  one  morning, 
I  said  to  Rogala :  "To-day  we  will  leave  Ndova  in 
the  camp  and  take  Andekko  with  us.  We  must  try 
to  kill  some  game  and  smoke  the  meat." 

After  our  meal  we  made  preparations  to  leave  the 
camp.  Andekko  was  delighted  when  he  saw  us 
handling  our  guns,  for  he  knew  from  this  that  we 
were  going  hunting  and  would  take  him  with  us. 
We  put  Ndova  into  the  house  we  had  made  for  him ; 
we  did  not  wish  to  leave  him  attached  to  his  pole,  for 
we  did  not  know  what  might  happen.  A  big  eagle 
might  pounce  upon  him,  and  being  tied  up  to  his 
pole  he  would  have  no  chance  to  flee.  Perhaps  a 
huge  python  or  some  other  big  snake  might  come 
within  the  enclosure  and  charm  him,  encircle  him 
within  its  powerful  coils,  squeeze  him  to  death,  and 
swallow  him.  Ndova  did  not  enjoy  being  shut  up  in 
his  house,  and  made  us  understand  it  by  his  shrill 
cries  of  dissatisfaction  as  we  went  out. 

Andekko  was  in  high  glee ;  he  followed  us  for  a 
little  while,  then  wandered  off  into  the  forest  by  him- 
self, and  from  time  to  time  came  back  to  us  to  make 
sure,  probably,  of  our  presence.     He  had  left  us  for  the 

84 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

fifth  or  sixth  time,  when  suddenly  we  heard  his  bark- 
ing;  he  was  evidently  after  some  gazelle  or  antelope. 
We  knew  that  he  was  coming  in  our  direction  as  his 
barking  became  louder  and  louder.  We  expected  at 
every  moment  to  see  an  antelope  or  gazelle  pass 
before  us.  We  were  not  mistaken.  Erelong  a 
beautiful  antelope  with  large  spiral  horns  appeared, 
followed  by  Andekko,  barking  at  the  beast  in  the 
fiercest  manner.  A  well-directed  shot  brought  the 
antelope  down. 

Then  we  cut  the  game  to  pieces,  and  made  two 
'^  otaitais  "  (baskets  to  carry  on  the  back),  and  we  put 
a  lot  of  the  meat  in  them.  On  our  return  to  the  camp 
we  built  a  big  platform,  upon  which  we  put  the  meat 
and  lighted  fires  to  smoke  it. 

One  day,  not  long  after,  Rogala  said  to  me :  "  Oguizi, 
the  boars  are  very  fat  just  now,  for  they  feed  on  koola 
nuts,  and  these  are  plentiful.  I  feel  like  having  boar's- 
meat  to  eat.*' 

As  he  said  this,  his  mouth  seemed  twice  as  large 
as  usual.  He  evidently  fancied  he  was  eating  fat 
boar's-meat.  I  agreed  with  him,  and  we  decided  on 
a  boar-hunt.  We  put  a  lot  of  berries  and  nuts  in 
the  cage  of  Ndova,  and  left  plenty  of  bones  for 
Andekko,  and  departed  for  the  hunting-ground  where 
the  boars  might  be  found.     Quite  a  distance  from  our 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

camp  we  could  still  hear  Andekko  barking  and   the 
cries  of  Ndova. 

We  soon  came  to  a  koola  tree  and  saw  many  nuts 
on  the  ground.  We  thought  we  would  get  a  meal 
before  the  boars  did,  so  we  broke  open  many  nuts 
and  ate  them.  Afterwards  we  hid  near  the  trees.  We 
waited  for  a  long  time  before  any  boars  made  their  ap- 
pearance. At  last  we  heard  their  grunts,  and  soon  after 
they  were  busy  eating  the  koola  nuts  before  us.  We 
picked  out  two  of  them,  fired,  and  killed  them  both. 
They  were  fat,  as  Rogala  had  said  they  would  be.  We 
could  not  carry  all  the  meat  with  us,  so  it  was  agreed 
that  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Alapai  should  return 
the  next  day  to  fetch  what  we  could  not  take.  On  re- 
turning to  camp,  we  built  another  platform  for  smoking 
the  boar's-meat. 

"  Now,"  said  I  to  Rogala,  "  we  have  plenty  of  meat, 
so  we    can    go  and  hunt  the  ^  men  of  the  woods.'  " 

It  was  a  curious  coincidence  that  my  hunters  on 
their  return  from  fetching  the  boar's-meat  next  day 
brought  news  of  the  "  men  of  the  woods."  They 
said :  "  Oguizi,  to-day  we  saw  a  place  where  the 
nshiego-mbouves  have  been.  They  have  come  to 
feed  on  a  peculiar  fruit  that  is  just  getting  ripe,  and 
I  am  sure  they  will  remain  in  the  neighborhood  where 
we  saw  their  tracks  for  a  time.      Let  us  go  there." 

S6 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

It  was  agreed  that  we  would  not  fire  at  any  other 
animals,  even  if  we  saw  an  elephant  with  the  biggest 
of  tusks.  The  men  advised  me  to  take  "  Bulldog  " 
with  me,  for  we  might  meet  nginas,  who  also  were 
fond  of  the  fruit. 

After  a  good  night's  rest  we  started,  Rogala  taking 
a  net  with  him  to  throw  over  a  baby  nshiego-mbouve 
or  a  baby  ngina,  if  we  should  encounter  any.  We  left 
Ndova  and  Andekko  in  the  camp  this  time  also. 

After  a  long  walk  we  approached  the  ground  where 
the  men  expected  to  find  nshiego-mbouves.  We  were 
startled  by  the  voices  of  two  of  them.  They  were 
talking  to  each  other,  —  the  male  was  calling  for  his 
mate,  —  and  as  it  was  getting  toward  sunset  Rogala 
said :  "  He  is  caUing  his  wife,  for  he  thinks  that  it  is 
time  to  go  to  bed." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Rogala  ?  "  said  I. 

"These  nshiego-mbouves,"  he  replied,  "make  rest- 
ing-places upon  the  trees  to  sleep  in  at  night.  The 
'  man '  has  one  place,  the  '  woman  *  another.  Let  us 
go  carefully  into  the  jungle  and  see  if  we  can  see  their 
'  beds.' " 

We  did  so,  but  found  nothing,  and  decided  to  camp 
for  the  night,  Rogala's  net  making  a  nice  soft  pillow  for 
me.  At  dawn  next  day,  when  it  was  just  light  enough 
to  see  our  way,  we  ate  a  light  breakfast  and  started  for- 

87 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

ward.  We  soon  came  to  a  part  of  the  forest  where 
there  were  many  trees  laden  with  the  fruit  Rogala  had 
mentioned.  Soon  we  saw  places  where  two  nshiego- 
mbouves  had  been  eating  the  day  before,  and  where 
after  their  meal  they  had  rested  on  their  backs,  side 
by  side. 

"  See  here,*'  whispered  Rogala ;  "  there  they  rested, 
for  they  had  eaten  too  much.  They  will  remain  in 
this  region  for  a  few  days,  for  they  find  plenty  to  eat." 

The  others  said  :  "  We  are  sure  to  meet  them  if 
we  are  patient,  but  the  nshiego-mbouves  are  so  shy 
that  we  must  be  extremely  careful  not  to  raise  their 
suspicions,  otherwise  they  will  escape  from  us." 

At  last  Rogala  gave  a  "cluck,"  stopped, and  looked 
at  me.  He  put  his  finger  upon  his  lips,  a  sign  to  keep 
perfectly  still ;  then  put  his  hands  to  his  ears,  which 
meant  "  Listen."  We  heard  the  voices  of  two  nshiego- 
mbouves  close  to  us.  They  were  talking  in  a  sort 
of  low  tone  or  grunt.  I  looked  at  "Bulldog;"  it 
was  all  right.  Rogala  looked  at  the  pan  of  his  gun  ; 
it  was  closed.  He  raised  it;  the  powder  was  there. 
Then  he  closed  it  again. 

We  advanced  in  the  direction  of  the  noise,  when 
suddenly  Rogala  stopped  and  made  me  a  sign  to  lie 
low  on  the  ground.  Then  we  crawled  toward  the 
trunk  of  a  big  fallen  tree.      Rogala's  quick  ears  had 

88 


"  He  put   his   nose   close   to   her  face   and  moaned  pitifully.''' 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST    AND   JUNGLE 

detected  that  the  nshiego-mbouves  were  coming  in  our 
direction,  and  soon  after,  as  we  peeped  over  the  trunk 
of  the  tree,  we  saw  a  female  nshiego-mbouve  with  a 
black  face,  then  a  very  young  nshiego-mbouve  near 
her.  His  face  was  very  white,  as  white  as  that  of 
any  white  child.  The  mother  seated  herself  and 
nursed  the  little  fellow.  It  all  looked  very  human. 
She  plucked  some  fruit,  threw  away  the  pulp,  then 
gave  the  inside  to  the  little  fellow,  who  said,  "  Whoe, 
whoe.'*  While  he  was  eating  this,  she  ate  half  a 
dozen  herself. 

She  was  getting  dangerously  near,  and  we  ran  the 
risk  of  being  discovered  ;  then  she  might,  in  her  fright, 
disappear  in  the  jungle  before  we  had  time  to  take  a 
good  aim  and  shoot.  Looking  at  Rogala,  I  raised 
"  Bulldog  "  and  fired.  The  big  nshiego-mbouve  fell, 
and  the  little  fellow  ran  up  a  tree,  uttering  shrill  cries 
of  terror. 

I  whispered  to  Rogala :  "  Now  let  us  get  our  net 
ready  to  throw  over  the  Httle  nshiego  when  he  comes 
down  the  tree  to  see  his  mother." 

We  kept  perfectly  still.  Soon  the  baby  nshiego- 
mbouve  came  down  the  tree,  and  went  up  to  his 
mother,  who  was  lying  dead  on  her  back.  He  put 
his  nose  close  to  her  face  and  moaned  pitifully.  He 
seemed  to  know  that  she  was  dead.      Rogala  ran  up 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

and  threw  the  net  over  him.  He  shrieked  fearfully. 
We  took  him  in  that  manner  to  the  camp,  and  having 
cut  off  the  mother's  head  as  a  trophy,  we  took  it 
with  us.  But  our  little  captive  died  soon  after.  We 
could  not  keep  him  alive. 


90 


CHAPTER   XIII 

ndova's  thoughtfulness  — his  winning  and  sport- 
ive WAYS  —  HE  FEELS  LONELY  AND  CALLS  FOR 
OTHER  MONKEYS  TO  COME  TO  HIM  —  A  TROOP  OF 
ELEVEN    APPEAR  — I     FRIGHTEN    THEM    AWAY 

1  REMAINED  all  alone  in  the  camp  one  day 
while  my  hunters  had  gone  hunting.  Andekko 
had  gone  with  them.      Everything  was  very  quiet. 

Ndova  was  very  still  and  was  thinking.  There 
was  no  mistake  about  it.  His  face  showed  it;  his 
eyes  showed  it.  He  had  a  wonderful  and  thought- 
ful expression  of  sadness  which  went  right  to  my 
heart. 

I  wondered  if  he  was  sorry  for  his  lot  among  us  ; 
if  he  thought  that  he  would  be  better  off  in  the  forest 
with  his  own  folk.  Perhaps  poor  Ndova  wanted  a 
mate  to  live  with  him.  All  I  could  tell,  when  I 
looked  at  him,  was  that  he  seemed  supremely  sorrowful. 
"  What  a  pity,"  I  said  to  myself, "  that  I  cannot  speak 
or  understand  the  ndova  talk,  for  I  could  then  by 
talking  to  him  find  out  what  is  the  matter."  Then  I 
wished  I  could  understand  the  language  of  all  the 
monkeys  of  the  forest.      I   knew  about  nine  different 

91 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

kinds  of  monkeys  living  there;  1  could  tell  every 
species  by  hearing  them,  for  no  two  uttered  the  same 
kind  of  sounds. 

As  I  was  thinking  of  these  things,  Ndova  suddenly 
jumped  upon  my  shoulders,  uttering  at  the  same 
time  sounds  of  affection,  and  began  at  once  to  play 
with  my  hair,  which  was  always  a  favorite  pastime 
with  him.  When  he  got  tired  of  this,  he  jumped 
down  on  my  lap,  and  began  to  play  with  my  hand 
and  tried  to  get  hold  of  two  or  three  freckles  I  had 
upon  them.  He  tried  and  tried  in  vain  to  pick  them 
off;  then  he  became  excited,  for  he  could  not  under- 
stand why  he  could  not  take  them  off.  It  always 
amused  me  to  see  Ndova  vexed,  for  his  eyes  glared 
in  such  a  peculiar  manner.  At  last  he  gave  up  try- 
ing to  pick  off  the  freckles. 

After  this  little  outburst  of  temper  he  regained  his 
equanimity,  and  began  to  be  himself  again,  full  of 
life  and  frolic.  That  made  me  feel  happy,  too,  for  I 
thought  a  good  deal  of  my  friend  Ndova.  I  did  not 
forget  that  he  had  sometimes  saved  me  from  hunger ; 
then  did  not  his  capers,  queer  gestures,  and  comical 
grimaces  amuse  me  many  times  ?  Was  he  not  our 
companion  in  the  great  forest,  one  of  us  indeed  ? 
Andekko  was  a  brave  dog,  but  he  had  not  the  queer, 
amusing  ways    of   Ndova,    nor    his    human    look.     I 

92 


♦» 

Ji 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

sympathized  always  with  Ndova  when  I  thought  he 
felt  lonely  —  for  I  often  felt  lonely  myself,  and  longed 
for  friends  and  those  of  my  kind. 

Finally  Ndova  went  to  his  cage,  and  began  to  eat 
the  nuts,  berries,  and  fruits  I  had  put  there  for  him 
in  the  morning.  After  he  had  satisfied  his  appetite 
he  filled  his  two  pouches  to  their  utmost  capacity,  the 
skin  of  his  cheeks  being  drawn  quite  tight  over  them. 
He  looked  comical  enough,  with  a  big  lump  on  each 
side  of  his  face. 

When  he  came  out  of  his  cage,  I  tied  him  to  the 
ring  of  his  pole  so  that  he  might  go  up  and  down  as 
he  pleased.  After  he  reached  the  top  of  the  pole, 
he  seated  himself  on  the  platform  and  then  became 
thoughtful  again.  After  a  while  he  uttered  that  pe- 
culiar sound  he  always  gave  when  he  called  for  his 
species,  the  ndovas.  When  I  saw  this,  I  said  to  myself: 
"  Yes  ;  when  Ndova  has  a  sad  face,  it  is  because  he 
feels  lonely.  That  is  the  reason  he  calls  for  some  of 
his  kind  to  come  and  keep  him  company." 

From  time  to  time  he  called,  but  no  answer  came 
back  ;  there  were  no  ndovas  around,  but  he  was  not 
disheartened  and  kept  calling.  Finally  an  answer 
came  from  far  off.  At  this  he  grew  excited,  and  went 
up  and  down  his  pole  several  times. 

I  hid,  so  that  if  the  monkeys  came  into  our  camp 

93 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

they  would  not  see  me.  I  had  a  good  hiding-place. 
I  could  hear  the  advance  of  the  monkeys  in  the  noise 
they  made  as  they  leaped  from  one  flexible  branch 
to  another.  Now  and  then  they  would  stop  and  hold 
a  conversation  with  Ndova.  Soon  after  they  perched 
upon  a  tree  from  which  they  could  look  into  our 
camp.  They  remained  silent  for  a  while.  The  sight 
was  unusual  to  them.  I  was  glad  that  Andekko  had 
gone  with  Rogala,  for  he  would  have  barked  at  the 
monkeys  and  frightened  them  away. 

I  counted  eleven  monkeys.  One  was  much  bigger 
than  the  rest,  and  seemed  to  be  their  leader.  He  was 
looking  down  intently  at  Ndova  and  the  stockade. 
He  was  evidently  trying  to  make  out  what  all  that 
new  sight  to  him  meant.  He  was  suspicious  of  the 
place  and  did  not  move.  The  monkeys  would  not 
come  to  the  palisades  without  his  orders.  They  trusted 
in  his  wisdom.  He  was  evidently  their  chief.  I 
watched  carefully  his  face,  which  seemed  very  sober. 

After  a  while  he  talked  to  our  monkey,  all  his  fol- 
lowers remaining  silent.  Ndova  answered,  with 
sounds  I  had  not  heard  before.  "  Oh  dear,"  I  said  to 
myself,  "  why  do  I  not  understand  the  language  of 
the  ndovas,  so  that  I  might  know  what  the  old  fellow 
says  to  him  ?  I  think  he  wants  to  entice  Ndova  away 
into  the  forest."      I  was  almost  sorry  I   had  not  my 

94 


Soon   I  saw   their   heads  peeping   over   the  palisades. 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

gun  by  my  side.  I  think  I  should  have  shot  him  for 
daring  to  try  to  make  Ndova  run  away. 

Ndova  kept  moving  up  and  down  his  pole,  now 
and  then  running  about  on  the  ground,  making  great 
efforts  to  get  to  his  kind  the  ndovas. 

Suddenly  all  the  monkeys  joined  in  a  chorus,  which 
excited  Ndova  very  much.  Then  they  all  came  down 
the  tree  together,  and  soon  I  saw  their  heads  peeping 
over  the  palisades  and  looking  silently  at  Ndova,  the 
big  fellow  being  in  the  centre  of  them,  his  big  human- 
like eyes  glancing  all  round.  Then  they  all  uttered  a 
peculiar  sound,  which  probably  meant  "  Come  on,  come 
on,"  for  Ndova  tried  anew  to  go  to  them.  But  they 
did  not  dare  to  come  inside  towards  him.  All  at  once 
I  emerged  from  my  hiding-place,  and  at  the  sight 
of  me  they  fled,  uttering  piercing  cries  of  fright. 

On  the  return  of  Rogala  I  told  him  what  had 
happened. 

He  replied :  "  Oguizi,  monkeys  are  a  kind  of 
human  beings." 


95 


CHAPTER   XIV 

UNEASINESS  OF  ROGALA  — HE  FEARS  THE  NEW  MOON 
MAY  SEE  AND  BEWITCH  HIM—  HE  BUILDS  A  SMALL 
HOUSE  AND  HIDES  IN  IT— HE  HAS  AN  ATTACK  OF 
FEVER,    WHICH     HE    ASCRIBES    TO    WITCHCRAFT 

NOT  long  after  this  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  went 
away,  saying  that  they  would  return  in  three 
or  four  days  and  that  Rogala  would  take  care  of  me. 

Rogala  seemed  to  be  in  an  uneasy  frame  of  mind. 
Something  seemed  to  be  disturbing  him.  I  said 
nothing  on  the  subject,  for  I  felt  sure  that  he  would 
tell  me  at  the  proper  time. 

One  morning  he  left  the  camp  all  alone,  and  re- 
turned in  the  afternoon  with  a  big  load  of  palm  leaves. 
The  following  day  he  went  again  into  the  forest 
by  himself,  and  returned  with  a  big  load  of  bark. 
That  afternoon  he  began  to  build  a  very  small  house, 
and  roofed  it  with  the  palm  leaves,  and  then  made  a 
sliding  door  of  bark.  I  wondered  at  his  doings,  and  I 
asked  him  why  he  made  such  a  small  house. 

He  answered :  "  Oguizi,  two  days  from  now  will 
be  the  day  of  the  new  moon,  and  though  we  cannot 
see  the  moon,  on  account  of  the  trees,  her  eyes  can 

96 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

penetrate  everywhere.  The  new  moon  is  especially- 
angry  and  hungry  on  that  day.  She  looks  down  over 
our  country  and  seeks  whom  she  can  devour,  and  we 
poor  black  men  are  very  much  afraid  of  her  on  that 
account,  and  we  hide  ourselves  from  her  sight  on  that 
night."  After  a  pause  he  continued:  "From  the 
time  of  the  new  moon  to  that  of  the  full  moon  many 
people  die,  and  many  amongst  those  are  the  ones 
whom  the  new  moon  saw  on  her  appearance  in  spite 
of  all  the  precautions  they  may  have  taken. 

"  So  the  night  of  the  new  moon  I  will  go  into  the 
little  house  I  have  just  built,  and  remain  silent  all  that 
night,  for  if  I  spoke  the  new  moon  would  know  where 
I  was.  I  am  going  to  bring  plenty  of  firewood  for 
you."  Then,  with  great  earnestness  and  imploring 
eyes,  he  said :  "  Please,  Oguizi,  put  the  wood  yourself 
on  the  fire,  and  do  not  call  me  out  of  the  house,  for  if 
I  come  out  the  moon  is  sure  to  see  me  and  I  shall  be 
a  doomed  man."  And  as  he  uttered  these  last  words 
he  shuddered  with  fear,  and  then  added :  "  Rogala,  if 
seen  by  the  new  moon,  could  not  be  with  you  the  next 
moon,  for  he  would  surely  die  before  then." 

The   following    morning    Rogala    collected   a   large 

quantity    of    firewood,    enough    to    last    a    few    days. 

Towards  noon  he  spoke  to  his  "  ogana,"  or  idol,  thus  : 

"  You  know  that  I  love  you  with  all  my  heart.      I 

7  97 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

believe  In  you.  Protect  me  from  the  spears,  arrows, 
and  guns  of  my  enemies.  Let  all  those  who  try  to 
bewitch  me  and  afflict  me  with  illness  or  bad  luck  in 
hunting  and  fishing,  die.  Let  our  people  find  out  the 
witches  and  sorcerers  that  cause  sickness  and  death 
amongst  us." 

Towards  noon  on  that  day  he  took  his  gun  and 
went  hunting,  leaving  Ndova  and  Andekko  behind. 
Two  hours  afterwards  he  returned  with  a  gazelle,  or 
"  nchombee,"  on  his  back,  and  laid  the  animal  at  my 
feet,  saying :  "  I  have  killed  this.  Please  take  all  you 
want  for  yourself." 

Andekko  was  looking  with  a  hungry  eye  towards 
the  nchombee,  but  the  long  stick  of  Rogala  kept 
him  at  a  proper  distance.  I  cut  off  one  of  the  fore- 
legs and  threw  it  to  the  dog.  Ndova  was  chattering 
at  the  same  time,  looking  searchingly  at  Rogala. 
The  sounds  he  uttered  seemed  to  mean,  "  Have  you 
brought  me  no  berries,  fruits,  or  nuts  ? "  Rogala 
had  brought  him  nothing,  and  he  was  very  much 
disappointed. 

I  chose  half  of  the  nchombee;  then  Rogala  broiled 
the  other  part  on  charcoal,  and  when  it  was  cooked 
took  almost  all  of  it  and  went  into  the  forest,  whither 
I  followed  him.  He  walked  but  a  short  distance, 
and  then  stopped  before  some  very  large  leaves.      He 

98 


Rogala   and  his   idol. 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

plucked  a  few,  and  put  them  together  on  the  ground, 
and  laid  the  meat  of  the  nchombee  upon  them,  say- 
ing :  "  Olombo  and  Mombo,  this  nchombee  is  for 
you.  You  know  that  I  love  you,  and  that  I  always 
give  you  the  best  part  of  the  game  I  kill."  After  this 
sacrifice  we  returned  to  the  camp. 

Soon  after  he  entered  the  little  house  he  had  built, 
taking  his  bag  with  him,  and  shut  the  door  behind 
him.  I  heard  him  speak  to  his  idol.  When  he  came 
out,  his  body  was  painted  here  and  there.  In  the 
hollow  of  his  chest  was  a  white  spot,  in  the  middle 
of  his  forehead  a  white  line  between  his  eyes,  and 
there  were  long  white  stripes  along  his  arms.  He 
wore  all  the  mondahs  his  bag  contained.  He  came 
towards  me,  and  looking  at  me,  said  :  "  Oguizi,  sunset 
is  soon  coming,  and  I  must  go  into  the  little  house, 
and  I  shall  remain  there  until  after  sunrise.  You 
have  plenty  of  firewood.  You  have  meat.  There 
is  plenty  of  water  in  the  spring,  so  you  will  be  neither 
thirsty  nor  hungry." 

Before  entering  the  house,  he  called  aloud  on  the 
spirits  of  his  ancestors  to  watch  over  him,  said  good- 
night to  me,  then  disappeared  into  his  little  hut,  and 
shut  the  door  so  that  the  new  moon  could  not  possibly 
see  him. 

I    found  myself  alone   in   the  camp.     Ndova   and 

99 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

Andekko  were  my  companions.  Ndova  entered  his 
house  and  soon  after  was  asleep.  Andekko  stretched 
himself  by  the  fire.  I  wondered  at  all  I  had  seen  and 
the  wonderful  animals  I  had  killed  since  I  had  been 
in  that  great  forest ;  then  putting  lots  of  wood  on 
the  fires,  I  lay  down  to  sleep.  In  the  middle  of  the 
night  Ndova  uttered  several  shrill  cries  of  fear  which 
resounded  strangely.  I  jumped  out  of  my  bed,  re- 
volver in  hand,  lighted  a  torch  quickly,  and  went  to 
his  house,  followed  by  Andekko,  who  had  been  lying 
by  my  side.  Ndova's  eyes  glared,  his  hair  stood 
erect.  He  gave  several  grunts,  and  jumped  from  one 
part  of  his  house  to  the  other.  Something  had  evi- 
dently disturbed  him.  Looking  carefully  on  the 
ground,  I   saw  the  trail  of  a  huge  snake. 

While  all  this  was  going  on  within  his  hearing, 
Rogala  did  not  dare  to  say  a  word.  All  was  perfectly 
silent  in  his  little  house.  When  he  came  out  in  the 
morning,  he  said  to  me  :  "  The  new  moon  did  not 
see  me." 

In  the  afternoon  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  made  their 
appearance.  They  had  gone  into  the  forest  to  hide, 
fearing  that  the  moon  would  mark  them  also  for 
destruction. 

The  following  day  Rogala  went  hunting  and  re- 
turned with  a  very  high  fever.      He  had  had  a  sudden 

I  GO 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

chill  on  the  way.  His  skin  was  very  hot,  and  he  had 
a  very  violent  headache.  I  made  him  lie  down,  and 
lighted  several  fires  round  him  to  act  as  blankets.  I 
was  afraid  he  had  an  attack  of  malignant  fever,  which 
carries  off  people  very  quickly,  sometimes  in  less 
than  twelve  hours.  I  gave  him  a  very  large  dose  of 
quinine,  and  bathed  his  burning  head  with  cool  water 
from  the  spring.      I  watched  over  him  all  night. 

He  was  better  the  next  day,  and  said  to  me : 
"  Oguizi,  some  persons  have  bewitched  me ;  they 
are  jealous,  for  you  are  my  friend,  and  you  love  me,  a 
poor  slave,  and  they  say,  '  Why  should  the  great 
Oguizi  love  Rogala  ? '  and  they  want  me  to  die." 

I  replied,  "  Rogala,  nobody  wants  you  to  die." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied  very  earnestly,  "  somebody  wants 
me  to  die,  but  fortunately  I  have  a  powerful  mondah 
which  is  stronger  against  witchcraft  than  the  machina- 
tions and  incantations  of  the  sorcerers  or  witches." 

While  he  was  talking,  I  said  to  myself:  "  I  suppose 
that  if  Rogala  should  die  while  with  me,  the  people 
would  say  that  I  had  caused  his  death  ;  that  I  wanted 
his  spirit  to  follow  me  when  I  left  the  country  because 
I  loved  him."  I  remembered  that  a  man  had  died 
the  day  after  I  had  left  a  village,  and  the  people  there 
to  this  day  believe  that  I  caused  his  death  for  this 
reason. 

lOI 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

So  I  was  very  anxious  about  Rogala,  for  not  only 
should  I  regret  his  death,  but  J  could  not  foretell 
what  would  happen  afterwards. 

But  he  got  quite  well  soon,  though  his  face  began 
again  to  show  signs  of  anxiety.  He  seemed  almost 
afraid  of  our  camp,  and  even  suggested  that  we  might 
build  another  camp  at  some  other  place.  He  hinted 
that  the  place  had  been  bewitched. 

"  By  whom  ?  "  I  asked,   laughing. 

"  I    do    not    know,"     he    answered. 

"  Only  your  friends  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  have  been 
here.  You  do  not  mean  to  say  that  they  wish  you 
to  be  ill  and  die  ?  Do  not  be  afraid,*'  I  said  earnestly, 
in  order  to  convince  him.  "  You  will  not  die ;  the 
Oguizi  will  keep  you  with  him." 

These  words  seemed  to  reassure  him  somewhat,  but 
I  could  see  that  he  was  still  anxious. 


102 


CHAPTER  XV 

ROGALA  LEAVES  THE  CAMP  —  NON-APPEARANCE  OF 
SHINSHOOKO  AND  ALAPAI  —  WHAT  HAPPENED  TO 
ROGALA  ON  HIS  JOURNEY  —  HE  RETURNS  AFTER 
FOUR  DAYS  WITH  A  POWERFUL  MONDAH  WHICH 
HE    BURIES    BEFORE    THE    CAMP 

THE  next  day  after  our  talk  Rogala,  bending  low 
and  taking  one  of  my  feet  in  both  his  hands, 
said  with  great  fervor :  "  Oguizi,  I  want  to  go  home, 
and  if  you  let  me  go  I  will  be  back  in  four  days. 
Yes,"  he  repeated,  "  I  will  be  back  in  four  days. 
Shinshooko  and  Alapai  will  remain  with  you/' 

I  said :  "  You  can  go,  Rogala."  I  did  not  wish  to 
ask  him  why  he  wanted  to  go  home,  but  I  suspected 
that  he  wanted  to  consult  the  big  idol  about  the  ill- 
ness from  which  he  had  recovered,  and  to  try  to  find 
out  who  had  bewitched  him. 

Early  the  following  morning  he  departed,  and  I 
followed  him  for  a  short  distance  and  bade  him  an 
affectionate  farewell. 

I  had  learned  to  love  Rogala,  for  he  was  thought- 
ful, affectionate,  and  brave.  When  with  me  I  always 
felt  that  he  would  never  leave  me  in  the  lurch. 

103 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Strange  to  say,  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  did  not 
come  back  that  day  or  night.  Were  they  lost,  or 
had  they  been  killed  by  gorillas  or  elephants  ? 

Andekko  seemed  to  know  that  I  was  left  all  alone, 
and  was  watching  most  carefully,  walking  constantly 
around  our  fence  and  sniffing  to  find  out  if  there 
were  intruders  near.  When  he  had  gone  round  two 
or  three  times,  he  would  come  back  and  lie  at  my 
feet.  Twice  during  the  day  he  growled,  but  a  few 
words  addressed  to  him  prevented  him  from  barking. 
We  had  taught  him  not  to  bark  when  within  the 
camp,  but  at  every  growl  he  gave  I  listened  atten- 
tively. Perhaps  he  had  heard  the  footsteps  of  Shin- 
shooko and  Alapai.  Each  time  the  noise  had  probably 
been  made  by  some  passing  antelope  or  other  animal. 
At  any  rate,  my  ladder  was  inside,  and  no  enemy 
could  reach  me  unawares. 

I  did  not  go  out  that  day.  I  cleaned  "  Bulldog  ** 
and  my  other  guns,  and  mended  my  clothes. 

At  night  I  lighted  two  extra  big  fires.  How 
strange  was  the  glare  of  the  flames  among  the  big 
trees  that  surrounded  me!  The  wind  was  blowing 
very  hard,  for  I  could  hear  the  rustling  of  the  leaves 
on  the  top  of  the  trees.  Twice  I  heard  the  piercing 
cries  of  owls. 

I    hardly    slept.     Andekko    was    wide    awake,    his 

104 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

ears  pricking  up  at  the  least  noise.  Now  and  then 
he  would  go  round  and  round,  and  when  he  had  made 
sure  that  there  was  nothing,  he  would  return  and  lie 
by  the  fire.     At  last  morning  came. 

After  my  breakfast  I  left  the  camp,  leaving  the 
premises  in  charge  of  Andekko,  after  giving  him  a 
good  meal  and  providing  more  food  for  him.  As  I 
marched  along,  Ndova,  who  accompanied  me,  was 
looking  for  something  to  eat.  I  heard  him  utter 
the  chuckle  that  always  meant  he  had  found  some- 
thing good.  I  went  towards  him,  and  found  him 
regaling  himself  Looking  round,  I  saw  growing  on 
the  trunk  of  a  tree  large  grape-like  bunches  of  a 
beautiful  fruit  of  a  bright  scarlet  color.  Each  fruit 
was  of  the  shape  of  a  very  large  olive.  There  were 
abouf  ten  of  these  bunches  on  the  trunk,  and  each 
was  about  fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  long.  The  seed 
was  large,  but  the  pulp  was  quite  juicy  and  somewhat 
acid,  with  a  very  pleasant  flavor.  I  petted  Ndova  to 
show  him  that  I  appreciated  his  discovery. 

If  I  could  have  followed  Rogala  with  my  eyes  on 
his  way  from  the  time  he  left  the  camp,  I  could  have 
seen  him  (as  I  afterwards  learned  from  his  own  ac- 
count, when  he  returned)  the  first  day  tramping  along 
as  fast  as  he  could,  now  and  then  stopping  and  taking 

105 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

his  idol  from  his  bag  and  putting  it  on  the  ground, 
and  then  talking  to  her  as  he  would  to  an  old  trusted 
friend ;  asking  her  to  protect  him  against  witch- 
craft, to  kill  his  enemies,  and  to  let  him  go  back  safe 
to  the  Oguizi.  When  the  evening  came,  he  lighted 
several  fires,  and  took  again  his  little  idol  from  his 
bag,  and  made  numerous  invocations  to  her.  Poor 
Rogala  was  very  unhappy,  for  he  was  fully  persuaded 
that  somebody  had  bewitched  him.  During  the  night 
he  heard  an  owl,  and  he  thought  some  of  his  enemies 
had  taken  that  shape  and  were  following  him. 

The  following  day,  at  daybreak,  Rogala  left  the 
place  where  he  had  slept,  and  walked  as  fast  as  his 
legs  could  carry  him  ;  then  he  came  to  a  small  plan- 
tation where  lived  a  great  medicine  man,  and  prom- 
ised him  three  brass  rods  which  I  had  given  him  if 
he  would  follow  him.  The  medicine  man  assented ; 
then  they  went  to  a  place  where  years  before  Rogala 
had  buried  a  powerful  mondah  to  drive  away  witch- 
craft from  the  place. 

The  medicine  man  made  many  incantations  over 
the  mondah  before  Rogala  dug  it  out.  The  mondah 
was  composed  of  several  skulls  of  nshiegos  and  bones 
of  other  animals.  When  he  had  dug  up  all  the  relics, 
Rogala  packed  them  carefully  in  the  otaitai  he  had 
with  him,  then  rose  and  retraced   his   steps   towards 

1 06 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

our  camp,  carrying  with  him  the  powerful  mondah 
which  was  to  drive  away  witchcraft  from  our  camp. 
He  was  now  happy. 

The  morning  of  the  day  that  Rogala  had  prom- 
ised to  return  I  went  into  the  forest  without  taking 
Ndova  or  Andekko  with  me.  I  had  "  Bulldog,"  —  not 
that  I  wanted  to  use  it,  but  I  thought  it  was  prudent 
to  have  my  most  powerful  weapon  with  me ;  "  for, 
who  knows?"  said  I  to  myself,  "somebody  might 
come  into  our  camp  and  steal  my  best  friend  '  Bull- 
dog.* It  is  better  to  be  on  the  safe  side  in  case 
something  unforeseen  should  happen."  I  also  took 
with  me  a  hundred  steel-pointed  bullets. 

I  found  a  place  where  there  was  a  kind  of  berry  I 
had  not  seen  before,  but  I  did  not  dare  to  eat  any 
before  Ndova  had  tasted  of  them.  I  took  a  few  of 
them  with  me  to  give  them  to  him  on  my  return.  If 
they  were  good,  then  I  would  come  to  get  more  the 
following  day.  I  continued  to  go  further,  thinking  that 
I  might  find  a  koola  tree,  when,  to  my  terror,  I  found 
that  I  had  been  on  the  point  of  stepping  over  a  huge 
snake,  my  heel  almost  brushing  it  as  it  touched  the 
ground.  The  snake  lay  across  the  path,  and  was 
just  the  color  of  the  dead  leaves.  I  ran  instinctively 
from  the  reptile,  then  stopped.  I  could  not  help  it, 
but  every  time  I   came  unawares   upon  a  dangerous 

107 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

snake  my  first  impulse  was  always  to  move  away 
quickly.  Then,  when  I  thought  I  was  out  of  danger, 
I  took  my  hunting-knife  and  cut  a  long,  somewhat 
slender  stick,  then  retraced  my  steps  and  looked  at 
the  snake.  It  was  thick  and  short,  with  a  triangular 
head.  I  could  see  by  the  shape  of  its  head  that  it 
was  poisonous.  Raising  my  stick,  I  let  it  fall  heavily 
upon  its  spine,  breaking  it  and  thus  preventing  the 
ugly  reptile  from  turning  upon  me  and  from  retreating 
or  advancing.  But  the  breaking  of  his  spine  did  not 
prevent  him  from  hissing  at  me  when  I  faced  him. 
Another  blow  crushed  his  head  ;  his  fangs  could  not 
possibly  do  any  more  harm,  and  how  big  these  were  ! 
I  cut  his  head  off  and  threw  it  away.  Then  I  saw 
that  he  had  swallowed  a  tiny  little  gazelle  that  was 
not  yet  digested.  I  cut  the  snake  into  several  pieces 
to  take  with  me  to  the  camp,  for  I  knew  that  my 
hunters  were  very  fond  of  snakes.  Then  I  retraced 
my  steps  towards  the  camp. 

As  I  approached,  I  thought  I  saw  through  the 
jungle  a  man  by  the  fence  just  at  the  foot  of  the 
ladder.  I  was  astounded.  I  could  not  believe  my 
eyes.  Had  any  one  discovered  our  abode  ?  Was 
the  inside  of  our  fortress  full  of  enemies  waiting  for 
Rogala,  Shinshooko,  Alapai,  and  me  ?  How  was  it 
that  Andekko  did  not  bark  ?     Had  they  killed  dear 

io8 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Andekko?  Ndova's  voice  was  not  to  be  heard. 
Was  he  killed  also  ?  I  looked  at  "  Bulldog,"  then 
lay  flat  on  the  ground  and  crawled,  like  a  snake,  on 
my  stomach  towards  the  man.  I  lost  sight  of  him 
for  a  few  seconds,  and  I  thought  he  had  gone. 
"  Then,"  said  I  to  myself,  '^  our  abode  has  been  dis- 
covered, and  this  man  has  gone  to  tell  the  news  to  his 
people,  who  will  surely  come  and  attack  us." 

Fortunately  I  got  sight  of  the  man  again.  I  stood 
perfectly  still,  watching  him  through  the  jungle. 
Suddenly  it  occurred  to  me  that  his  skin  was  of  the 
same  color  as  that  of  Rogala.  I  looked  and  looked. 
Yes,  it  was  Rogala.  There  was  no  mistake  about  it. 
I  recognized  his  body,  though  at  first  I  could  not 
recognize  his  face,  for  it  was  so  disfigured  by  being 
painted  with  ochre.  One  side  was  yellow,  the  other 
side  white,  and  his  forehead  was  red. 
-  But  what  was  he  doing?  I  came  nearer  and  watched. 
I  saw  his  idol  by  his  side,  and  near  it  skulls  of  ani- 
mals, pieces  of  broken  plates  from  the  white  man's 
country,  and  some  large  sea-shells.  I  recognized  the 
skulls  as  those  of  nshiegos  and  two  or  three  as  those 
of  monkeys.  I  saw  Rogala  bury  them  at  the  foot  of 
the  ladder;  then  he  covered  them  with  earth,  put  dead 
leaves  upon  the  spot,  and  tried  to  make  it  as  natural- 
looking  as  it  was  before.     Then  he  went  to  the  place 

109 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

where  we  hid  the  ladder,  and  came  back  with  it. 
Taking  a  monkey  he  had  killed,  he  climbed  the  ladder, 
and  soon  after  was  inside.  I  heard  Andekko's  bark 
of  joy  and  Ndova's  muttering  of  contentment. 

I  remained  still  awhile,  then  went  hunting  again,  so 
that  when  I  returned  Rogala  could  not  possibly  sus- 
pect that  I  had  seen  him,  and  about  two  hours  after- 
wards I  returned  to  the  camp. 

Dear  Rogala  was  very  happy  to  see  me  again.  Im- 
mediately after  his  arrival  he  had  made  a  big  fire  to 
get  charcoal  in  order  to  roast  the  monkey  he  had 
killed  on  his  way  back  to  the  camp.  In  the  mean- 
time I  presented  him  with  the  pieces  of  the  snake  I 
had  killed.  The  berries  I  had  gathered  were  good, 
for  Ndova  ate  them,  and  when  I  tasted  them  I  found 
them  very  palatable.  Then  Rogala  lighted  his  pipe 
and  looked  at  me. 

His  body  had  been  cut  very  badly  by  the  sword- 
grass  ;  so  he  washed  himself  with  warm  water,  then 
rubbed  himself  with  oil,  and  lay  flat  on  a  mat  by 
the  fire.  He  was  very  tired.  As  he  saw  that  I  was 
looking  at  him,  he  said  : 

"  The  reason  I  am  so  cut  by  the  sword-grass  is 
because  I  travelled  a  part  of  the  night.  I  had  told 
you  that  I  would  be  back  on  the  fourth  day  and  I 
wanted   to  keep  my  word.      I    walked   with   a   torch 


no 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

which  I  made  from  the  gum  of  an  elimi  tree  I 
found  on  the  way,  but  though  the  torch  gave  a  good 
light,  once  in  a  while  I  found  myself  entangled  in  the 
midst  of  long  sword-grass."  Then  he  added :  "  If  I  had 
not  found  that  elimi  tree,  I  could  not  have  walked  in 
the  dark,  for  if  I  had  been  without  a  torch  a  prowling 
leopard  in  search  of  prey  might  have  pounced  upon 
me,  and  then  you  would  never  have  seen  your  friend 
Rogala  again." 

Before  we  went  to  sleep  I  said :  "  Rogala,  I  know 
where  you  have  been,  I  know  why  you  left  me." 
Rogala's  face  began  to  appear  frightened,  for  he  evi- 
dently thought  I  knew  what  he  had  done.  Without 
giving  him  time  to  reply,  I  continued :  "  You  went 
to  dig  up  an  old  mondah  from  the  ground,  and  you 
brought  it  here ;  you  have  buried  it  where  we  hang 
our  ladder." 

Rogala  looked  at  me  with  a  sort  of  dread,  then  tak- 
ing hold  of  my  feet,  he  said :  *'  Oguizi,  you  know  every- 
thing." Then  he  told  me  what  I  have  just  recounted 
to  you,  and  concluded :  "  Now  no  witchcraft  can 
come  here." 

Shortly  afterwards  Shinshooko  and  Alapai,  who 
had  gone  to  see  if  any  animals  had  been  caught  in 
their  various  traps,  returned,  but  without  game. 


Ill 


CHAPTER  XVI 

WE  DISCOVER  A  PAIR  OF  NSHIEGO-NKENGOS  ~  DESCRIP- 
TION OF  THEM  —  CAPTURE  OF  A  YOUNG  ONE  — 
HE  MAKES  FRIENDS  WITH  NDOVA  AND  ANDEKKO 
—  HIS    SPEEDY     DEATH 

ONE  day  at  daylight  Rogala  and  I  left  our  camp, 
I  taking  my  light  rifle,  and  Rogala  his  gun  and 
a  net.  After  we  had  climbed  over  our  fence  we  could 
hear  Andekko  barking  and  Ndova*s  voice  of  discon- 
tent. They  wanted  to  go  with  us  and  disliked  being 
left  behind. 

After  about  four  hours*  tramp  we  came  to  the 
region  of  the  pineapple,  and  we  stopped  there.  At 
the  end  of  about  two  hours  more,  we  were  startled  by 
the  voice  of  a  "  man  of  the  woods."  Rogala  whispered 
to  me  :  "  Nshiego-nkengo  !  He  is  not  very  far  from 
us."  In  the  distance  we  heard  the  voice  of  his  mate 
answering  his  call.  They  kept  answering  each  other ; 
but  neither  Rogala  nor  I  could  understand  them,  for 
they  were  speaking  the  language  of  the  nshiego- 
nkengos.  Rogala  whispered  to  me :  "  The  '  man  '  is 
telling  his  mate  to  come,  for  he  has  found  pineapples. 
Let  us  go  towards  him  and  hide  ourselves." 

112 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

We  went  forward  as  noiselessly  as  a  fish  or  a  leopard. 
We  advanced  slowly,  looking  upon  the  ground  each 
time  we  put  down  our  feet,  for  fear  of  stepping  upon 
some  little  dead  branches  of  trees.  We  put  aside 
most  carefully  with  one  of  our  hands  the  jungle  that 
was  in  our  way,  for  we  knew  that  the  least  noise  would 
make  the  animals  suspicious. 

On  account  of  the  great  care  we  took  to  make  no 
noise  our  advance  was  very  slow,  but  forward  we 
went,  and  nearer  and  nearer  we  came  to  the  "men 
of  the  woods.''  At  last  we  heard  the  rustling  they 
made  as  they  moved  about  in  the  jungle.  We  ad- 
vanced with  still  greater  care,  when,  lo !  I  saw  the 
two  creatures.  I  did  not  even  dare  to  give  a  click 
of  warning,  for  fear  that  their  quick  ears  would 
hear  it.  Fortunately  Rogala  had  seen  them  also. 
We  looked  at  each  other,  and  I  made  a  sign  to 
him  that  we  must  not  fire  at  them,  and  to  remain 
where  we  stood. 

The  two  nshiego-nkengos  had  their  backs  turned 
towards  us,  so  we  could  not  see  their  faces.  They 
were  seated  close  together.  Now  and  then  they 
stretched  out  their  arms  to  reach  the  pineapples  before 
them.  I  could  hear  them  biting  them,  uttering  now 
and  then  a  peculiar  sound  of  contentment,  showing 
how  pleased  they  were  with  their  food. 
8  113 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

The  hair  covering  their  bodies  was  thin  and  black, 
and  I  could  see  that  it  grew  over  a  yellow  skin.  I 
could  also  see  the  backs  of  the  large  yellow  ears. 
That  was  all.  There  were  many  pineapples  all  round 
them. 

I  was  much  excited.  Then  the  nshiegos  turned  partly 
round  and  I  could  see  their  profiles.  I  saw  their  pale 
yellowish  faces,  which  reminded  me  of  the  color  of  the 
sunburnt  Moor  of  the  desert,  but  no  sun  had  given 
them  that  complexion,  for  the  sun  does  not  penetrate 
the  forest.  I  noticed  that  their  ears  were  somewhat  the 
shape  of  those  of  man,  but  much  larger,  and  that  the 
lobes  were  flattened.  Their  lips  were  so  thin  that 
the  mouth  seemed  to  have  been  made  by  the  skin 
being  cut  transversely,  but  it  was  very  large.  They 
had  long  slender  hands,  with  palms  whiter  than  their 
faces  ;  their  feet  were  also  very  long  and  slender. 
Their  legs  had  no  calves,  and  were  very  short.  •  Their 
arms  were  very  long.  They  gradually  turned  right 
towards  us.  Their  faces  were  wrinkled  like  those  of 
very  old  people,  some  of  whom  have  that  peculiar 
colorless  skin.  Their  eyes  looked  strange  and  had 
something  human  in  them,  and  seemed  to  be  all  the 
time  on  the  lookout. 

The  male  got  hold  of  a  large  yellow  pineapple 
that    was    quite    ripe,   and    the    female   took    it  away 

114 


"  The   tiuo   nshiego-nke)igos   had  their   backs   turned  toivards 
us   and  were   eating  pineapples.'" 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

from  him.  He  uttered  a  sort  of  guttural  sound,  as 
if  to  say,  ''  All  right,  you  are  welcome  to  it,"  and 
he  picked  another.  Then  they  began  to  pick  them 
one  after  another,  and  four  mouthfuls  disposed  of  a 
large  pineapple. 

After  a  while  they  moved  away.  Rogala  raised  his 
gun,  looking  at  me.  I  made  a  sign  to  him  not  to 
fire.  I  did  not  want  to  kill  them.  "  Perhaps  we 
shall  meet  them  in  the  forest,''  I  said  to  myself,  "  and 
I  may  have  a  chance  to  study  their  ways."  I  did  not 
even  shout  to  scare  them.  They  moved  off  gradually, 
and  we  went  back  to  our  camp. 

The  following  day  we  took  Andekko  with  us. 
Towards  noon  we  were  startled  by  the  fierce  barking 
of  the  dog,  and  heard  the  shrill  cry  of  a  nshiego- 
nkengo.  Soon  we  came  to  the  place,  and  saw  An- 
dekko looking  up  a  tree  at  a  young  nshiego  which  I 
thought  to  be  about  a  year  old,  and  barking  fiercely. 
He  was  glaring  at  the  dog,  the  hair  of  his  body  erect, 
and  was  uttering  sounds  of  defiance,  not  of  fear.  He 
seemed  to  know  that  he  was  safe  where  he  was,  and 
that  the  dog  could  not  climb  the  tree. 

"  Let  us  try  to  capture  the  baby  nshiego-nkengo  if 
we  can,"  said  I  to  Rogala. 

In  the  meantime  Andekko  kept  barking  at  the 
little  fellow,  who  kept  looking  at  him,  uttering  now 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

and  then  a  sort  of  "whoe,  whoe."  He  seemed  to  say 
to  the  dog,  "  You  cannot  catch  me."  Here  we  were, 
Rogala,  Andekko,  and  I,  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  and 
the  young  nshlego-nkengo  looking  at  us  from  one  of 
its  branches. 

We  found  that  from  a  young  tree  with  slender 
branches  he  had  succeeded  in  reaching  the  tree  where 
he  was.  The  only  thing  to  be  done  was  to  watch  for 
the  time  when,  driven  by  hunger,  he  would  come 
down. 

In  the  meantime  we  heard  far  away  in  the  distance 
the  calls  of  his  mother.  We  kept  a  sharp  lookout 
for  her,  for  though  nshiegos  are  very  shy,  we  were 
not  sure  that  she  would  not  attack  us.  She  evi- 
dently thought  her  young  one  was  somewhere  in 
the  forest  looking  for  her.  We  spoke  loud  to 
scare  her. 

At  last  I  said  to  Rogala :  "  Watch  here  while  I  go 
to  the  camp  to  feed  Ndova,  for  the  probability  is  that 
we  shall  have  to  sleep  at  the  foot  of  the  tree  to- 
night." 

I  went  to  the  camp  and  fed  Ndova,  and  returned 
with  some  food  and  two  axes.  Andekko  was  almost 
exhausted  from  his  constant  barking,  which  had  be- 
come quite  hoarse  and  indistinct.  The  yellow  pale 
face  of  the   little    nshiego-nkengo  with   his    big   eyes 

ii6 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

looked  at  us  from  his  tree.  The  evening  came,  and 
there  was  no  prospect  of  his  coming  down. 

We  slept  in  the  forest,  the  little  nshiego-nkengo 
still  on  the  tree.  "  The  only  thing  for  us  to  do, 
Rogala,"  said  I  in  the  morning,  "  is  to  cut  the 
tree  down.  Then  we  will  watch  and  throw  the  net 
over  him." 

"  That  is  so,  Oguizi,"  replied  Rogala ;  "  only  we 
must  see  that  Andekko  does  not  get  hold  of  him,  for 
he  will  surely  strangle  him.'* 

We  set  to  work,  and  soon  the  young  tree  fell  with 
the  little  nshiego,  and  before  Andekko  had  time  to 
nab  him,  Rogala  had  thrown  the  net  over  him.  We 
had  quite  a  job  to  keep  Andekko  away,  and  not 
before  Rogala  had  shown  him  a  stick  he  had  great 
respect  for,  was  he  quieted. 

We  returned  to  the  camp  with  our  prize,  and  by 
daylight  we  heard  the  mother's  loud  calls.  The  lit- 
tle fellow  responded  with  shrieks.  Andekko  barked 
furiously,  and  in  an  instant  we  were  outside  our  pali- 
sades, leaving  Andekko  within.  Shortly  after  we  suc- 
ceeded in  approaching  the  old  nshiego-nkengo  unseen, 
and  killed  her. 

Ndova  did  not  seem  to  take  to  the  addition  to  our 
family.  The  two  looked  at  each  other  in  a  strange 
way.      But  the  next  day  they  were  more  friendly,  and 

117 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

the  third  day  they  had  become  friends,  and  were  try- 
ing to  discover  insects  upon  each  other's  bodies.  It 
took  a  few  days  more  to  make  Andekko  and  Nshiego 
friends.  Finally,  however,  the  great  pleasure  of  An- 
dekko was  to  lie  down  by  Nshiego  and  let  himself  be 
scratched.  In  three  days  Nshiego  had  become  quite 
tame,  but  in  less  than  a  week  he  died. 


Ii8 


CHAPTER   XVII 

my  reckoning  lost  —  rogala  and  i  go  to  an 
island  where  i  can  see  the  heavens  — we 
reach  it  by  a  raft  and  build  a  house  — 
turtle's  eggs   in   profusion 

I  HAD  been  so  long  in  the  forest  and  had  led  such 
a  life  that  I  could  not  remember  the  day  of  the 
week  and  the  date  of  the  month.  I  was  not  sure 
whether  I  was  at  the  end  of  July  or  at  the  beginning 
of  August,  nor  could  I  tell  if  I  was  north  or  south  of 
the  equator. 

The  only  way  for  me  to  find  out  these  things  was 
to  make  astronomical  observations,  to  find  out  my 
latitude  and  longitude.  While  in  that  great  and  ap- 
parently boundless  forest  I  compared  myself  to  a 
mariner,  all  alone  in  a  boat,  without  compass,  in  the 
middle  of  the  ocean,  having  for  days  a  cloudy  and 
gray  sky  above  his  head  which  hid  the  sun,  the  moon, 
and  the  stars  from  his  sight,  so  that  he  could  not  know 
in  what  direction  to  steer  his  boat.  The  foliage  of  the 
trees  above  my  head  took  the  place  of  the  gray  and 
cloudy  sky. 

119 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

I  said  to  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  and  Alapai :  "  It  is  a 
long  time  since  I  have  seen  the  sun,  the  moon,  and 
the  stars,  for  when  I  look  up  I  see  nothing  but  leaves 
which  hide  the  heavens  from  my  sight.  I  wish  to  go 
to  a  large  open  place,  to  a  river  where  I  can  see  the  sun, 
the  moon,  and  the  stars,  for  I  want  to  speak  to  them 
and  consult  them." 

When  my  hunters  heard  me  speak  in  that  manner, 
all  three  looked  at  me  with  wonder.  Their  eyes 
stood  wide  open  with  astonishment  and  seemed  to  be 
twice  as  big  as  before. 

Rogala  replied  :  "  Oguizi,  about  two  days'  journey 
from  our  camp  there  is  a  river  with  a  long  sandy 
island  which  always  comes  out  during  the  dry  season 
when  the  water  is  low.  On  that  island  you  will  be 
able  to  see  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars.'* 

It  was  agreed  that  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  should 
return  to  their  home  and  tell  the  news  about  us  to  be 
sent  to  Chief  Rotembo. 

By  daylight  the  following  day  we  were  ready  to 
start.  We  hid  the  ladder  at  some  distance  from  our 
camp,  and  bade  one  another  farewell.  Shinshooko 
and  Alapai  soon  disappeared  from  our  sight. 

We  took  an  old  hunting-path  that  led  to  the  river 
and  sandy  island.  Rogala  and  I  had  each  a  heavy 
load  to  carry.      Rogala  carried  the  "  precious  box  "  on 

120 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

his  back  in  an  otaitai,  some  smoked  elephant  meat, 
his  gun,  ammunition,  two  axes,  a  machete,  and  some 
food.  I  carried  "  Bulldog,"  ammunition,  and  koola 
nuts.  Andekko  and  Ndova  had  nothing  to  carry. 
Andekko  seemed  to  know  that  we  were  on  a  journey 
and  that  he  had  to  follow  us.  Ndova  was  tied  on  the 
"precious  box"  and  stood  on  the  top  of  it. 

The  hunting-path  was  almost  obliterated,  as  it  was 
so  seldom  used.  Trees  had  fallen  across  it  in  many 
places.  In  some  the  jungle  had  grown  over  it.  In 
others  we  had  to  pass  under  the  branches  of  some 
fallen  trees  or  walk  on  the  roots. 

Towards  noon  we  stopped  to  eat  and  rest  a  little 
while,  then  we  continued  on  our  way.  How  silent 
was  the  forest !  Not  even  the  shrill  cry  of  a  mon- 
key or  of  a  parrot  was  heard.  Once  in  a  while  we 
could  hear  the  fall  of  a  leaf  or  the  gentle  murmur 
of  some  little  stream  winding  its  way  towards  some 
unknown  river. 

A  little  before  dark  we  stopped,  and  made  our  camp 
for  the  night.  We  collected  a  large  quantity  of  dead 
branches  of  trees  that  had  fallen  on  the  ground  for 
our  fires,  and  lighted  many,  and  after  a  hearty  meal  of 
boiled  elephant  meat  we  fell  asleep. 

By  daylight  we  were  up  and  continued  our  journey. 
We  slept  again  in  the  forest,  though  we  were  near  the 

121 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

river.  The  following  morning  we  stood  upon  its 
bank,  and  I  saw  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  a  long 
sandy  island. 

Rogala,  pointing  out  the  island  to  me,  said:  "  Oguizi, 
this  is  the  island  of  which  I  spoke." 

Putting  our  loads  on  the  ground,  we  took  our  axes, 
and  cut  down  trees  to  build  a  raft. 

When  the  raft  was  ready,  Rogala  put  upon  it 
the  "  precious  box,"  Ndova,  and  Andekko,  and  then 
crossed  to  the  island.  Ndova  was  very  much  afraid 
of  the  water,  and  clung  to  Rogala,  who,  after  land- 
ing the  box,  the  monkey,  and  the  dog,  came  back 
for  me. 

An  exclamation  of  joy  arose  involuntarily  to  my 
lips  as  I  landed.  How  lovely  was  the  blue  sky,  in 
the  midst  of  which  transparent  white  clouds  were 
moving  slowly!  How  cheerful  was  the  sunshine! 
It  felt  so  good  to  tread  upon  the  soft  white  sand,  to 
be  in  a  place  where  there  was  not  a  tree,  not  even  a 
blade  of  grass.  In  a  word,  the  island  was  beautifully 
bare  of  vegetation.  I  was  so  tired  of  trees  and  of  the 
forests.  I  rolled  in  the  sand,  lay  on  my  back,  and 
looked  at  the  blue  sky. 

"  We  will  remain  on  this  island  for  a  few  days,"  I 
said  to  Rogala,  "  and  to-morrow  we  will  build  a  shelter 
for  ourselves.      During   the  day  we  will  go  into  the 

122 


''^IVhen   the  raft   ivas   ready   Rogala^  Ndova^  and  Andekko 
crossed  to   the   island.'' 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

forest  to  hunt  and  seek  food.  In  the  evening  we  will 
return  to  the  island." 

We  crossed  the  river  again  on  our  raft,  leaving 
Andekko  and  Ndova  in  possession  of  the  island. 

We  collected  building  material,  cut  poles  and  sticks, 
gathered  large  leaves  to  be  used  instead  of  slates  or 
shingles  for  roofing,  and  for  walls  wide  pieces  of  bark  ; 
also  much  firewood.  After  a  few  trips  all  our  material 
was  landed  on  the  island. 

First  I  measured  the  ground,  and  decided  that  the 
house  should  be  about  ten  feet  long  and  seven  feet 
wide.  We  planted  sticks  about  one  foot  apart,  reaching 
a  height  of  about  five  feet  above  the  ground.  Then 
we  fastened  the  bark  along  these  sticks,  and  left  an 
opening  to  be  used  as  a  door,  and  made  a  few  loop- 
holes so  that  we  could  fire  from  them  in  case  we  were 
attacked  by  the  natives.  I  always  took  great  pre- 
cautions, though  I  was  not  afraid  of  the  people.  My 
guns,  rifles,  a  certain  amount  of  ammunition  were 
always  near  my  bed.  I  slept  dressed  and  with  my 
shoes  on.  "  Always  be  ready  in  case  of  a  sudden 
attack,"  I  said  to  Rogala,  and  he  replied :  "  You  are 
right,  Oguizi." 

Then  we  placed  a  beam  upon  two  big  forked  sticks 
to  support  the  roof,  and  covered  our  roof  with  the  large 
leaves,  arranging  them  on  the  top  of  one  another  just 

123 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

like  shingles.  We  also  built  a  platform  in  case  we 
should   need  it  for  smoking  meat. 

Then  I  walked  all  over  the  island,  and  discovered 
buried  in  the  sand  a  number  of  turtle's  eggs,  to  my 
great  joy,  for  turtle's  eggs  are  very  good  to  eat.  There 
were  so  many  of  them  that  we  should  not  have  starved 
had  we  remained  quite  a  while  on  the  island,  for  not 
only  did  we  find  many  eggs  but  we  captured  a  number 
of  turtles.  When  I  returned  from  my  tour  of  investi- 
gation, Rogala  was  talking  to  his  idol. 

We  boiled  a  number  of  turtle's  eggs,  and  having 
salt  with  us  we  enjoyed  them  immensely.  If  I  had 
had  some  oil  or  wild  boar's  fat,  what  delicious  turtle's- 
egg  omelette  we  could  have  made  !  After  breakfast 
we  fished,  and  were  lucky  enough  to  catch  some  fish, 
to  our  great  delight.  These  we  broiled  on  charcoal 
for  our  dinner.  The  day  passed  rather  slowly,  for  I 
was  anxious  for  the  night  to  come. 


124 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

APPEARANCE  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  HEAVENS  AT  NIGHT- 
HOMESICKNESS  —  I  TAKE  SEVERAL  OBSERVATIONS  — 
ASTONISHMENT  OF  ROGALA—  FIND  THAT  I  AM 
NINETY    MILES    SOUTH    OF    THE    EQUATOR 

AT  last  the  sun  set  behind  the  trees.  Darkness 
came  on,  and  the  stars  made  their  appearance 
one  by  one.  Soon  the  heavens  glittered  with  them. 
The  murmur  of  the  wind  passing  through  the  top  of 
the  trees  and  the  gentle  noise  of  the  river  gliding 
along  the  shores  were  all  that  disturbed  the  absolute 
silence  of  the  night.  I  was  happy  to  see  the  stars 
again.      How  beautiful  they  were  in  the  blue  heavens  ! 

I  gazed  upon  them  silently  for  quite  a  while,  then 
I  said  to  them  :  "  I  love  you,  dear  twinkling  stars,  for 
you  are  my  friends  and  companions  of  the  night. 
Without  you  I  should  be  lost  in  this  great  forest. 
You  and  the  moon  tell  me  where  I  am.  I  miss  you 
ever  so  much  when  I  am  without  you.  I  feel  lonely 
without  you." 

But  I  missed  many  of  the  stars  that  I  loved  at 
home.     The  little   ship  that   had    carried    me  across 

125 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

the  ocean  to  those  southern  latitudes  had  taken  me 
away  from  them.  Many  stars  that  were  unknown  to 
me  had  taken  their  place,  and  though  they  were  beau- 
tiful and  I  admired  them,  I  did  not  love  them.  The 
stars  that  twinkle  and  look  down  upon  the  bright 
glittering  snow,  the  Mississippi,  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
the  Alleghanies,  upon  our  great  lakes,  prairies,  dales, 
and  hills,  upon  the  pine,  the  oak,  the  beech,  the 
elm,  and  the  birch,  upon  the  violets,  buttercups,  and 
goldenrods,  were  those  I  loved  the  best. 

An  uncontrollable  fit  of  sadness  seized  me  as  I 
missed  them.  I  thought  of  home,  of  friends.  Tears 
filled  my  eyes,  I  could  not  help  it.  Fortunate  was  it 
that  Rogala  was  not  near  me.  He  might  have  thought 
that  the  Oguizi  was,  after  all,  a  human  being. 

But  there  were  stars  that  were  old  friends.  The 
Pleiades  were  there,  the  stars  of  the  constellation  of 
the  Great  Bear.  Vega,  that  I  loved  so  much  at 
home,  seemed  to  be  right  above  me  ;  so  were  Aldebaran 
and  the  stars  of  the  constellation  of  Orion.  Here  the 
position  of  the  stars  made  the  sword  perfectly  straight. 

The  sky  of  the  southern  hemisphere  was  very  unlike 
that  of  the  northern.  One  of  the  most  striking  sights 
was  the  constellation  of  the  Cross,  commonly  known 
by  mariners  as  the  Southern  Cross,  composed  of  four 
brilliant    stars.       The    three    brightest    stars    in    the 

126 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

heavens,  Sirius,  Canopus,  Centaur,  filled  a  part  of  the 
heavens  with  their  light. 

Mars,  Venus,  Saturn,  and  Jupiter  were  looking  upon 
me.  That  part  of  the  Milky  Way  between  the  stars 
Sirius  and  Centaur  was  so  rich  in  stars  and  crowded 
nebulae  that  it  seemed  a  perfect  blaze  of  light. 

There  were  the  Magellanic  clouds,  white-looking 
patches,  made  up  of  countless  stars  unseen  to  th'e  eye, 
and  nebulae,  —  stars  in  formation,  —  shining  brilliantly 
and  revolving  round  the  starless  South  Pole. 

Then,  looking  northward,  I  saw  the  constellation  of 
the  Great  Bear,  which  reaches  its  meridian  altitude  at 
about  the  same  time  as  the  constellations  of  the  Cross 
and  of  the  Centaur. 

I  gazed  upon  the  heavens  almost  all  of  the  night. 
I  was  perfectly  oblivious  of  everything  else.  Stars 
appeared  and  disappeared.  They  were  like  a  succes- 
sion of  guests  coming  and  going. 

At  last  I  said  good-night  to  the  stars,  and  pulling  my 
old  panama  hat  over  my  head,  to  protect  my  eyes  from 
the  rays  of  the  moon,  I  soon  fell  asleep  on  the  sand, 
under  the  blue  heavens  and  the  stars  twinkling  over  me. 
I  dreamt  of  friends,  of  boys  and  girls  at  home,  of  the 
North  Star,  of  snow,  of  strawberries,  peaches,  and  jam. 
I  was  suddenly  awakened  by  the  sharp  barking  of 
Andekko.      It  was  broad  daylight.     Rogala  was  cook- 

127 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

ing  turtle's  eggs.  Ndova  was  looking  at  me.  All 
the  stars  had  disappeared,  and  the  sun  had  risen  to 
give  life  and  food  to  the  sons  of  men,  for  without  the 
sun  there  would  be  no  life,  no  vegetation  upon  the 
earth.  I  spent  the  day  quietly,  waiting  impatiently 
for  the  night  to  take  astronomical  observations. 

After  sunset  I  said  to  Rogala :  "  Bring  me  the 
'precious  box.'"  After  he  had  laid  it  at  my  feet  I 
opened  it. 

Rogala  stood  up  close  to  me,  looking  on  with  min- 
gled feelings  of  curiosity  and  fear.  First,  I  took  from 
the  box  two  sextants  —  one  was  to  determine  the  alti- 
tude of  the  stars,  planets,  and  moon  ;  the  other  the 
distance  between  them  from  east  to  west,  or  vice  versa. 
Then  I  took  out  a  trough,  which  I  filled  up  with 
quicksilver  to  be  used  as  an  artificial  horizon,  on 
which  the  stars  were  to  be  reflected. 

From  a  little  copper-screwed  water-tight  box  I  took 
two  watches  out  of  four  which  all  marked  the  seconds, 
a  bull's-eye  lantern,  and  other  objects  that  excited  the 
wonder  of  Rogala.  Before  taking  the  observations,  I 
thought  I  would  have  some  fun  with  Rogala.  I 
placed  my  telescope  in  position  for  Jupiter  and  said 
to  him  :  "  In  the  land  of  the  Oguizi  this  star  is  called 
Jupiter.  Do  you  see  little  stars  round  it?"  I  meant 
the  satellites. 

128 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

"  No,"  he  replied. 

"There  are  stars  near  it,"  said  I,  "but  your  eyes 
cannot  see  them.      I  will  show  them  to  you." 

Then  I  made  him  look  with  the  telescope  towards 
Jupiter,  and  he  saw  the  satellites.  He  looked  at  me 
with  awe,  then  with  wonder.  Fortunately  he  knew  I 
would  not  harm  him,  but  throwing  himself  at  my  feet, 
he  took  hold  of  them  and  exclaimed:  "You  are  a 
great  Oguizi.  My  eyes  have  seen  what  no  other  black 
man*s  have  seen  before  ;  "  then  he  got  up  and  in  a  loud 
voice  invoked  the  spirits  of  his  ancestors  to  protect 
and  watch  over  him,  and  shouted,  "  Great  indeed  is 
the  Oguizi." 

When  I  was  ready  to  take  observations,  I  seated 
myself  cross-legged  before  the  artificial  horizon.  On 
my  right  was  a  sextant  to  take  the  distance  between 
the  moon  and  the  lunar  stars  that  were  in  position. 
Close  by  was  one  of  the  watches ;  also  the  magnifying- 
glass  to  help  me  to  read  the  degrees,  minutes,  and 
seconds  on  the  sextant. 

On  my  left  was  the  sextant  for  taking  altitudes, 
near  which  was  the  slate  with  pencil  to  write  down  the 
figures,  and  the  bull's-eye  lantern  was  lighted  to  help 
me  to  read  the  sextant.  Also  a  thermometer  for 
ascertaining  the  temperature. 

The  most  important  thing  was  to  make  the  obser- 
9  129 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

vations  as  quickly  as  possible  and  read  from  the  watch 
the  space  of  time  between  them. 

After  spending  four  hours  in  making  observ^ations  I 
stopped.  I  looked  at  Rogala.  He  was  fast  asleep, 
for  he  was  very  tired  and  had  worked  hard  during  the 
day.  I  awoke  him,  and  we  went  to  our  little  hut  and 
lay  down  to  sleep.  We  knew  that  if  natives  came  up 
or  down  the  river  Andekko  would  warn  us  in  time. 

When  I  awoke,  Rogala  was  still  asleep.  Ndova  had 
his  eyes  shut  and  his  head  was  hanging  down  on  his 
breast.  Andekko  lay  across  the  door,  apparently 
asleep,  but  as  soon  as  he  heard  me  he  wagged  his  tail 
and  followed  me  to  the  river  and  remained  by  me 
until  I  had  had  a  good  bath. 

For  three  days  and  three  nights  I  worked  very 
hard.  I  took  many  observations,  and  made  calcu- 
lations which  showed  my  latitude,  longitude,  the  day 
of  the  month  and  of  the  week,  and  gave  me  the 
month  in  which  I  was.  I  found  that  it  was  Wednes- 
day, the  17th  of  August,  that  I  was  ninety  miles 
south  of  the  equator,  and  two  hundred  and  ten  miles 
in  the  interior. 


130 


CHAPTER    XIX 

we  cross  the  river  and  hide  our  axes— ndova*s 
fright  at  a  python  —  andekko  finds  a  leop- 
ard's  lair  — we  capture  two  leopard  cubs  — 
a  visit  from  savages  — they  are  frightened 
by  my  waterbury  clock 

NOW  that  I  knew  from  my  astronomical  obser- 
tions  where  I  was,  and  what  was  the  day  of  the 
month  and  week,  1  said  to  Rogala :  "  Let  us  go  and 
hunt  in  the  forest,  for  possibly  I  may  kill  some 
animals  or  birds  I  have  never  seen  before.  I  have 
done  talking  to  the  stars,  the  moon,  and  the  sun  for 
some  time  now.'* 

As  we  were  ready  to  go  across  the  river,  I  said  to 
Rogala :  "  We  must  take  our  axes  with  us,  for  who 
knows  if  some  wandering  natives  may  not  be  roaming 
here  and  take  our  raft?  If  we  have  our  axes,  we  can 
make  another  one  quickly."  Then  we  embarked, 
taking  also  Andekko  and  Ndova  with  us. 

After  landing,  we  hid  our  axes  carefully  in  two  dif- 
ferent places  ;  one  was  put  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree,  the 
other  under  dried  leaves.  We  were  walking  silently, 
Rogala    leading,  for    the    path    was    very    difficult    to 

131 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

follow,  being  often  obliterated  by  the  jungle  or  fallen 
branches. 

All  at  once  Ndova  ran  towards  me,  seeming  very 
much  frightened.  His  eyes  were  almost  starting  out 
of  his  head,  and  he  sprang  upon  me  and  held  fast  and 
close  to  my  clothing.  He  looked  in  a  certain  direction, 
then  uttered  a  cry  of  anger  and  defiance  towards  the 
place.  I  whispered  to  Rogala :  "  What  can  be  the 
cause  of  Ndova's  fright  and  anger  ?  Look  at  his 
hair !      It  is  standing  up  all  over  his  body." 

"  Probably  a  snake,'*  replied  Rogala. 

We  went  carefully  towards  the  spot  whence  Ndova 
had  come,  and  saw  a  huge  python  coiled  round  a  tree, 
watching  for  prey.  We  killed  the  reptile,  which  was 
nearly  twenty  feet  long.  Rogala  cut  it  into  many 
pieces,  packed  them  together  in  large  leaves,  and  hung 
the  parcel  on  the  branch  of  a  tree,  and  said  with  evi- 
dent glee  :  "  When  we  return  I  will  take  the  parcel 
with  me,  for  the  snake  is  fat,  and  will  make  good 
soup." 

We  continued  to  follow  the  path,  looking  all  around 
us  for  game,  and  walked  as  lightly  as  we  could.  The 
footsteps  of  Rogala,  who  wore  no  shoes,  could  not  be 
heard. 

Soon  Ndova  began  to  call  for  monkeys.  His 
power  of  scent  or  of  hearing  was  so  great  that  he  had 

132 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

detected  the  presence  of  monkeys,  though  we  could 
hear  nothing.  His  calls  were  soon  answered.  Then 
we  made  him  fast  to  a  cord,  for  fear  that  he  would  go 
away  from  us.  Each  side  kept  on  talking  and  an- 
swering each  other,  and  the  cries  of  the  flock  of  mon- 
keys to  which  he  was  talking  came  nearer  and  nearer. 
Then  they  suddenly  stopped.  Had  Ndova  warned 
them  not  to  come  nearer  ?  I  thought  I  had  detected 
a  peculiar  sound  that  was  unlike  those  he  always  ut- 
tered when  he  wanted  ndovas  to  come.  I  might  be 
mistaken,  but,  after  all,  they  did  not  come,  and  we 
did  not  hear  them  utter  a  single  cry. 

We  continued  on  our  way.  After  a  while  we  heard 
in  the  distance  the  fierce  and  angry  barking  of  An- 
dekko.  We  listened,  then  shouted  at  the  top  of 
our  voices,  "  Andekko,  Andekko,"  so  that  he  'might 
know  we  were  not  far  from  him.  He  was  evidently 
not  pursuing  game,  for  the  barking  was  stationary. 

Rogala  said  to  me  :  "  Let  us  go  through  the  jungle 
towards  him  and  see  what  causes  this  fierce  barking.'* 

"  Yes,"  said  I, "  let  us  go  and  see  what  is  the  matter.*' 

So  we  left  the  path,  and  went  through  the  thick 
jungle,  breaking  some  of  the  branches  as  we  went 
along  to  guide  us  on  our  way  back. 

Louder  and  louder  became  Andekko's  barking  as 
we  neared  the  spot  where  he  was,  when  suddenly  the 

133 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

barking  ceased.  The  face  of  Rogala  became  anxious, 
and  he  said  to  nie  in  a  low  voice :  "  Perhaps  Andekko 
has  been  pounced  upon  by  a  snake,  which  is  now 
coiled  round  him,  and  has  squeezed  him  to  death.** 

"  That  may  be  so,**  I  replied.  "  Let  us  hurry.'*  So 
we  went,  careless  of  the  noise  we  made.  We  had 
only  our  dear  Andekko  in  our  minds,  and  we  wanted 
to  save  his  life,  and,  if  too  late,  wreak  our  vengeance 
upon  his  destroyer. 

"  Dear  Andekko,*'  I  said  to  myself,  "  I  think  a 
great  deal  of  you,  for  you  have  been  such  a  faithful 
dog,  and  have  rescued  us  so  often  from  starvation. 
I  will  surely  kill  the  animal  that  has  killed  or  even 
hurt  you.** 

As  we  approached  the  spot,  I  thought  I  heard  a 
peculiar  noise.  I  listened.  There  was  no  mistake 
about  it.  Andekko  was  alive,  and  seemed  to  be  busy 
choking  some  animal  or  other. 

Rogala  and  I  advanced  towards  the  spot,  and  came 
to  a  dark  place  in  the  forest,  where  a  number  of  big 
trees  had  fallen  upon  each  other.  Under  all  was  a 
dark  recess,  a  sort  of  den,  and  the  dog  was  there. 
We  shouted  "  Andekko,  Andekko,**  and  he  came 
out  with  a  small  leopard  in  his  mouth.  We  were 
before  a  leopard*s  den  ;  both  the  father  and  mother 
of  the  cubs  had  gone  in  search  of  prey  for  them. 

134 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

"  There  is  no  time  to  be  lost,"  said  Rogala  to  me. 
"  I  will  go  into  the  den  and  get  the  leopard's  cubs  if 
Andekko  has  not  killed  them  all.  Watch  carefully, 
Oguizi,  while  I  am  in,  and  if  the  leopards  come,  let 
'  Bulldog  '  send  them  their  death-blow." 

Rogala  had  perfect  faith  in  "  Bulldog,"  and  believed 
in  its  supernatural  powers. 

In  the  meantime  Andekko  was  barking  furiously 
outside,  and  it  was  all  we  could  do  to  prevent  him 
from  again  going  inside.  If  he  did,  he  would  surely 
kill  the  rest  of  the  young  leopards,  if  he  had  not  done 
so  before.  T  watched  carefully  while  Rogala  was  get- 
ting within ;  my  eyes  were  everywhere  around  ;  "  Bull- 
dog "  was  cocked,  and  I  was  ready  for  any  sudden 
coming  of  papa  and  mamma  leopard.  I  felt  that  I 
must  be  quick  in  aiming  at  them  in  case  they  made 
their  appearance  together. 

In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  however,  Rogala  came 
out  of  the  den  holding  two  little  live  leopards  by  the 
neck.  There  were  two  others,  he  said,  that  were 
dead,  and  Andekko  had  had  hold  of  these  two. 

Rogala  looked  at  me  anxiously,  and  said  :  "  Oguizi, 
if  the  leopards  are  on  their  way  back  with  food  for 
their  little  ones,  we  shall  have  a  bad  time.  Their 
anger  will  be  terrible  when  they  see  some  of  their 
young  dead  and  torn  to   pieces,  and  others  missing. 

135 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

They  will  scour  the  forest  in  search  of  their  enemy. 
They  move  very  fast  if  they  have  the  scent,  making 
one  immense  bound  after  another." 

"  I  will  set  fire  to  the  leopard's  den,"  I  replied  ; 
"  there  are  many  dead  branches,  and  the  fire  will  spread 
quickly,  and  the  leopards  will  not  know  about  our 
being  here."  At  the  same  time  I  lighted  a  match, 
and  set  fire  to  a  spot  where  there  were  many  dead 
branches  and  dried  leaves.  Soon  everything  was  in 
a  blaze,  but  in  that  great  and  damp  forest  fires  never 
spread  far.  We  left  the  spot,  and  as  soon  as  we  were 
in  the  path  we  ran  as  fast  as  our  feet  and  legs  could 
carry  us  towards  the  river  and  our  island,  with  visions 
of  leopards  bounding  at  full  speed  after  us.  Once  in 
a  while  I  could  hear  the  voice  of  Rogala  say :  "  Go 
on,  Oguizi,  go  on!"  At  other  times  when  I  saw 
him  flagging,  I  would  shout :  "  Come  on,  come  on, 
Rogala  ! " 

I  was  quite  ahead  after  a  while,  and  as  I  came  in 
sight  of  the  river  I  saw  a  number  of  savage-looking 
men  on  our  island.  I  counted  twenty  of  them. 
They  looked  fierce,  and  their  bodies  were  covered  with 
war-paint.  They  carried  ugly-looking  barbed  spears 
and  shields  made  of  elephant  skins.  Their  leader 
walked  ahead  of  them.  He  was  short,  and  looked 
fiercer  than  the  rest.     They  advanced  cautiously,  and 

136 


Rogala   came   out   of  the   den    holding   tico   little  live 
leopards    by    the   neck.^^ 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

suddenly  they  stopped  and  looked  frightened.  They 
were  looking  at  my  Waterbury  clock,  and  as  soon  as 
they  heard  the  tick-tock  they  turned  suddenly  and 
fled  in  great  haste  towards  their  canoe.  In  a  jifFy 
they  left,  filled  with  fear,  and  paddled  away  down 
the  river  with  the  greatest  speed.  I  followed  them 
with  my  eyes  until  they  disappeared  behind  a  bend 
of  the  river. 

When  Rogala  rejoined  me,  I  told  him  what  I  had 
seen,  and  he  said :  "  Those  people  live  higher  up  the 
river,  and  are  going  to  visit  their  friends." 

I  drew  a  long  breath  of  relief  as  soon  as  v/e  got 
upon  our  raft,  for  we  did  not  know  but  that  the  leop- 
ards were  after  us. 

Suddenly  Rogala  said :  "  I  have  forgotten  the 
snake." 

"  Never  mind,"  I  said  to  him,  "  we  will  go  after 
turtle*s  eggs." 

We  had  reached  the  island  just  in  good  time,  for 
soon  after  we  heard  the  roaring  of  the  leopards.  They 
had  scented  us. 

Happily  the  water  was  between  us.  Their  rage 
knew  no  bounds,  for  they  saw  the  impassable  barrier 
between  us.  I  said  to  Rogala  :  "  Hold  one  of  the 
little  leopards  up  by  the  neck  so  that  they  can  see 
him."     Then  I  fired  and  succeeded  in  killing  one  of 

^17 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST    AND   JUNGLE 

the  leopards.  The  other  then  fled,  and  we  never 
heard  of  it  again. 

That  night  I  slept  with  "  Bulldog**  within  my  arms, 
and  rested  my  head  on  the  belt  holding  my  revolvers 
to  be  ready  in  case  the  men  we  had  seen  should  come 
back. 

The  following  day  we  went  into  the  forest  in 
search  of  game,  in  spite  of  our  fear  that  the  leopard 
might  still  be  in  the  neighborhood.  The  first  thing 
we  did  was  to  collect  berries  and  nuts  fof  Ndova. 
Finding  no  game,  we  returned  to  our  island.  Ndova 
was  delighted  when  we  brought  him  berries.  When 
he  could  eat  no  more,  he  filled  his  two  pouches  to 
their  full  capacity. 


138 


CHAPTER    XX 

LEAVE  THE  ISLAND  FOR  OUR  CAMP  — MONKEYS  AMONG 
THE  TREES—  FIND  EVERYTHING  UNTOUCHED  —  I 
GET  LOST  FOLLOWING  NGINAS  — AM  LUCKY  ENOUGH 
TO  FIND  KOOLA  NUTS  — CAMP  UNDER  THE  KOOLA 
TREE  — ANOTHER     NIGHT    IN    THE     FOREST 

THE  time  had  come  for  us  to  leave  the  island  and 
go  back  to  our  camp.  I  was  very  much  pleased 
with  our  trip.  Now  I  kept  the  days  carefully.  We 
cooked  hard  all  the  turtle's  eggs  we  had  and  roasted 
the  fish  we  had  caught.  Fish  tasted  very  good,  for 
we  had  been  so  long  without  it.  Rogala  loaded  the 
raft  with  our  outfit.  On  his  return,  after  landing  the 
latter,  I  embarked  and  bade  good-bye  to  the  island 
and  to  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars. 

It  was  not  long  before  I  heard  in  the  distance  a 
noise  like  a  storm  amongst  the  branches  of  the  trees. 
The  sound  was  peculiar.  Monkeys  were  coming  to- 
wards me.  This  noise  always  proclaimed  their  ap- 
proach. When  they  came  in  sight,  I  saw  there  was 
a  troop  of  about  thirty  of  them ;  they  were  ndovas. 
On  their  march  onward,  they  flung  themselves  from 

139 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

branch  to  branch,  travelling  with  very  great  speed. 
The  branch  upon  which  they  alighted  bent  sometimes 
ten  and  fifteen  feet  under  their  weight,  and  rebounded 
with  great  force  after  they  had  sprung  to  another. 
Sometimes  they  were  high  up  in  the  tree-tops.  Then 
they  descended,  to  go  up  higher  again.  They  never 
sprang  upon  a  branch  that  could  not  rebound,  and  it 
was  during  the  rebound  that  they  leaped  to  another, 
never  making  a  mistake.  Their  eyes  were  too  quick 
to  miss  their  mark.  They  calculated  the  distance 
they  could  spring  with  marvellous  accuracy. 

They  followed  their  leader,  a  big  fellow,  in  quick 
succession  and  in  silence,  and  seemed  to  go  four  or 
five  abreast.  They  used  chiefly  their  arms  to  grasp 
the  branches  upon  which  they  alighted  and  their  legs 
to  support  themselves.  They  were  so  "quick  in  their 
motion  that  my  eyes  often  could  not  follow  the  move- 
ment of  their  limbs.  The  end  of  branches  often 
struck  against  their  faces,  but  apparently  did  them  no 
harm,  as  they  swung  in  the  same  direction.  So  they 
went  forward,  leaving  behind  them  branches  of  the 
trees  still  swaying  for  quite  a  while,  filling  the  forest 
with  their  tremor. 

They  were  travelling  parallel  with  the  hunting- 
path,  and  seemed  to  go  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  miles  or 
more    an    hour.       Soon    they  were  out  of  my  sight. 

140 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

Gradually  the  noise  they  made  became  less  and  less 
and  less  and  then  ceased.  They  were  far  away.  I 
continued  on  my  way  towards  the  plantation.  After 
a  few  miles  I  heard  the  chatter  of  ndovas,  and  came 
upon  a  tree  upon  which  they  were  feeding.  They 
seemed  to  be  having  a  great  carnival  of  joy  amongst 
themselves.  I  was  interested  in  looking  at  them, 
hidden  in  a  thick  bush,  and  did  not  wish  to  kill  any, 
as  we  had  food  enough  in  the  camp.  They  made 
queer  faces  at  each  other ;  the  leader  would  give  now 
and  then  a  fruit  to  one  of  his  female  companions. 

When  we  got  sight  of  our  camp,  we  looked  around 
and  listened  awhile,  but  nobody  was  there.  We  went 
after  the  ladder,  climbed  it,  and  soon  were  within  the 
enclosure.  Ndova's  house  was  just  as  it  was.  Ro- 
gala's  house  for  the  new  moon  was  intact.  The  large 
stock  of  firewood  we  had  gathered  was  all  there. 
Nothing  had  been  disturbed.  Our  abode  had  been 
discovered  by  no  one. 

Two  days  after  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  returned 
loaded  with  plantains.  We  were  glad  to  see  them 
again,  and  enjoyed  the  plantains  prodigiously. 

A  few  days  after  our  return  I  went  into  the  forest 
in  search  of  game.  Towards  noon  I  heard,  at  some 
distance  from  the  path,  a  noise  made  by  some  animal. 
I  left  the  path  and  went  in  the  direction  of  the  noise. 

141 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

The  jungle  in  that  part  of  the  forest  was  not  thick, 
and  I  could  walk  fast. 

After  a  while  I  saw  amidst  the  trees  some  black 
objects  moving  ahead  of  me.  At  first  I  thought  they 
were  men,  but  soon  discovered  they  were  nginas.  I 
hid  behind  the  trunk  of  a  tree  and  watched  them. 
There  were  three  nginas.  I  saw  the  biggest  take  a 
young  tree  several  inches  in  diameter,  break  it  in  two, 
and  eat  the  heart  of  the  wood. 

The  nginas  were  not  old,  and  looked  extremely 
human.  They  moved  away  a  little  further,  and 
where  a  fruit  called  tonda  by  the  natives  was  growing, 
they  uttered  chuckles  of  delight  at  their  discovery. 
One  handed  a  tonda  to  one  of  the  others.  I  was 
much  afraid  they  would  see  me,  but  after  eating  the 
tondas  they  moved  further  off  and  got  into  the  midst 
of  some  pineapples,  which  drew  from  them  more  gut- 
tural sounds  of  content.  The  pineapples  disappeared 
quickly.  They  ate  at  least  ten  each.  Then  they 
rested  and  looked  at  one  another. 

Before  long,  however,  they  became  suspicious,  and 
moved  away.  I  followed  in  their  tracks,  but,  in  my 
eagerness  to  pursue  them,  I  omitted  to  make  marks 
of  any  kind  as  I  went  along  so  that  I  could  find  my 
way  back.      It  was  a  great  mistake. 

Twice  I  came  within  sight  of  the  nginas,  but  inter- 

142 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

vening  branches  and  overhanging  Hanas  prevented  me 
from  using  "  Bulldog "  and  getting  a  shot  at  them. 
Finally,  I  gave  up  the  chase.  Then  I  remembered 
that  during  my  excitement  I  had  forgotten  to  mark 
the  trees  in  order  to  find  my  way  back,  and  soon  I 
realized  that  I  was  lost.  I  was  in  a  great  dilemma, 
and  I  reproached  myself  for  being  so  careless,  and  for 
not  having  followed  the  advice  that  had  been  given 
me  in  the  forest. 

I  walked  one  way,  then  another,  but  could  see  no 
traces  whatever  of  where  I  had  been.  I  was  lost, 
and  the  remembrance  of  my  former  experience  while 
hunting  with  Oshoria,  the  slaves  of  King  Mombo, 
and  my  other  hunters,  came  vividly  before  me. 

I  began  to  be  hungry  also.  I  saw  two  big  koola 
trees,  but  the  boars  had  been  there,  and  eaten  all  the 
nuts  that  had  fallen.  I  wished  I  could  have  had  a 
peep  at  these  boars,  I  would  have  fired  at  them. 
Suddenly  down  came  a  nut.  I  made  for  it  at  once. 
Then  I  said  to  myself:  "  I  will  stay  under  this  tree 
the  rest  of  the  day  and  camp  here  to-night,  for 
probably  more  nuts  will  fall  during  that  time."  I 
looked  for  water,  and  found  a  little  rivulet  near  by, 
which  confirmed  me  in  thinking  this  a  good  place 
for   a   camp. 

Another  nut  fell.     I  rushed  towards  it,  broke  it,  and 

143 


TN    AFRICAN    FOREST  AND    JUNGLE 

soon  the  kernel  was  in  my  mouth.  Then  another  nut 
fell,  and  another.  No  sound  seemed  to  me  sweeter 
than  that  of  the  falling  of  the  koola  nuts.  A  strong 
wind  was  evidently  blowing,  for  the  tops  of  the  trees 
were  shaking  and  the  leaves  were  quivering.  "  Blow 
hard,"  said  I  to  the  wind,  "  blow  hard,  for  the  nuts 
will  fall." 

Listening  to  the  sound  of  the  nuts  as  they  fell 
one  after  another,  and  putting  a  lot  of  wood  on  the 
fire,  I  lay  down  to  sleep,  feeling  a  great  deal  better 
after  my  meal. 

The  next  morning  I  awoke  perfectly  fresh.  During 
the  day  I  came  to  a  tolerably  well-trodden  path,  which 
was  more  used  than  all  those  I  had  seen  since  I  had 
been  in  my  forest  home.  But  I  did  not  know  in 
which  direction  to  follow  it.  Finally,  I  determined  to 
follow  the  right.  I  walked  the  rest  of  the  day,  but  I 
found  nothing  to  show  me  where  I  was  going.  I  was 
very  hungry,  but  the  koola  nuts  had  kept  me  alive, 
with  the  help  of  water. 

I  camped  again  that  night  in  the  forest.  I  put  under 
my  head  as  a  pillow  my  revolvers,  and  laid  "Bulldog  " 
by  my  side. 


144 


CHAPTER   XXI 

PLANTAIN  PEELINGS  TO  EAT  —  HUMAN  FOOTPRINTS 
LEAD  ME  TO  A  VILLAGE  —  THE  VILLAGERS  EVI- 
DENTLY WARLIKE  — ADMITTED  WITHIN  THE  GATE 
—  AWE    OF    THE    PEOPLE    AT     SIGHT    OF    THE    OGUIZI 

EARLY  the  next  morning  I  was  up,  and  fol- 
lowed the  path  until  I  came  to  another  which 
crossed  it.  This  one  was  well  trodden,  showing  that  it 
was  quite  frequented.  The  question  again  arose,  which 
side  must  I  take.  I  concluded  to  take  again  the 
right.  Soon  after,  I  discovered  some  plantain  peel- 
ings and  the  remains  of  a  fire.  I  was  delighted  at 
the  discovery,  and  stopped  and  roasted  the  peelings, 
which  were  better  than  nothing.  I  did  not  like 
them,  but  I  was  very  thankful  that  I  had  found  them. 
Further  on  I  came  to  a  place  where  the  ground  was 
soft,  and  saw  before  me  four  well-marked  human 
footprints.  Two  were  much  larger  than  the  others, 
and  were  evidently  the  marks  of  a  full-grown  man  ; 
the  others  looked  as  if  they  were  those  of  a  woman. 
I  continued  until  I  came  to  a  place  where  these  two 
people  had  rested.  I  was  overjoyed  at  this  discovery, 
for  I  knew  that  they  were  going  to  some  village  or 
10  145 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND   JUNGLE 

plantation.  Soon  after  I  heard  voices.  I  stopped, 
and  left  the  path  and  hid  in  the  jungle  behind  a  tree, 
watching  for  people  to  pass.  I  waited  and  waited ;  no 
one  passed.  So  I  left  my  hiding-place  and  returned 
to  the  path.  A  little  further  on  I  heard  more  voices ; 
then  I  left  the  path  again,  but  I  walked  parallel  with 
it  and  was  exceedingly  careful,  looking  around  every- 
where constantly.  I  had  learned  from  the  natives  to 
walk  parallel  with  a  path  and  at  some  distance  from 
it  in  case  one  does  not  wish  to  meet  people. 

After  a  while  I  heard  voices  again,  and  this  time 
many  people  were  talking  together.  Evidently  I  was 
near  an  encampment  or  a  village.  A  village  at  last 
came  in  sight.  The  houses  had  no  back  doors,  and 
numerous  dead  branches  of  trees  were  scattered  round, 
so  that  it  was  impossible  for  any  one  to  come  near 
without  making  a  noise  and  so  being  discovered. 
Apparently  the  people  were  holding  a  meeting,  for 
now  and  then  I  could  hear  a  number  of  voices  say, 
"  Yo,  Yo,*'  in  token  of  approval  of  what  the  speaker 
was  saying. 

I  went  carefully  round  and  saw  that  each  end  of  the 
street  was  closed  by  a  fence  made  of  strong  poles 
varying  in  height  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  and  even 
more.  At  the  top  of  many  of  the  poles  were  skulls 
of  wild  beasts.     Clearly  this  village  belonged  to  a  war- 

146 


"  Clearly    this   village   belonged  to   a    ivarlike   tribe^  whose 
people  were  always  fighting.'' 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

like  tribe,  whose  people  were  always  fighting.  In  the 
liddle  of  the  fence  was  the  gate,  on  each  side  of  which 
tood  two  big  idols  of  human  size  and  representing 
rwo  women.  How  ugly  they  were !  Each  had  a  tongue 
uf  iron  coming  out  of  the  mouth  about  six  inches 
long,  sharp  as  a  razor;  their  eyes  were  of  iron,  they 
./ore  big  ear-rings  of  copper  of  the  circumference  of 
an  ordinary  plate ;  both  wore  head-dresses  of  brilliant 
feathers.  Their  bodies  were  painted  of  different 
-:olors.  One  held  a  stick  in  her  hand,  which  she 
was  brandishing;  the  other  a  snake,  which  she  was 
swinging.  At  their  feet  were  bones  of  different 
animals,  talons  and  heads  of  eagles,  heads  of  snakes, 
and  many  other  things. 

There  was  a  great  noise  inside.  Soon  I  heard  the 
tomtoms  beat.  They  sounded  to  me  very  warlike.  As 
it  was  getting  late,  I  decided  not  to  enter  the  village 
until  the  following  morning,  and  retired  noiselessly 
into  the  forest  at  quite  a  distance  from  the  village, 
and  after  lighting  my  fires  I  went  to  sleep,  wonder- 
ing what  sort  of  people  I  was  to  encounter  the 
following   day. 

At  daylight  I  was  up,  but  waited  until  the  day  was 
nore  advanced  before  going  to  the  village.  I  kept 
pondering  whether  the  natives  would  receive  me 
well,    run    away,   or    show  fight.     At  last  I  left  my 

147 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

hiding-place,  and  a  short  time  afterwards  I  stood 
before  the  village  gate  and  between  the  two  idols. 
I  could  hear  numerous  voices  in  the  distance,  some- 
times shouts,  and  the  beating  of  the  tomtoms.  I 
judged  that  the  people  belonged  to  the  Bakalai  tribe. 

Then  hearing  the  voices  of  two  women  inside  close 
to  me,  I  said  to  them  :  "  Please  open  the  gate  to  the 
Oguizi,  who  is  your  friend." 

When  they  heard  me,  they  ran  away ;  but  soon 
three  men  came  up  and  talking  through  the  palisades, 
asked  who  I  was,  for  they  could  not  see  my  face. 

I  replied :  "  I  am  the  Oguizi ;   I  come  to  see  you." 

When  they  opened  the  gate,  I  found  myself  in 
presence  of  three  fierce-looking  fellows,  armed  with 
barbed  spears,  bows,  and  poisoned  arrows.  They  were 
tall  and  young  and  looked  like  warriors.  Closing  the 
gate  behind  me,  they  looked  at  me  with  signs  of  awe, 
and  one  of  them  said :  "  Are  you  the  Oguizi  who  has 
come  to  see  the  people  of  the  forest  ? " 

I  answered,  "  I  am." 

It  was  fortunate  that  I  could  talk  the  Bakalai  lan- 
guage. The  three  men  told  me  to  follow  them.  As 
soon  as  the  villagers  got  a  glimpse  of  me  there  was  a 
great  commotion ;  the  meeting  was  suspended,  the 
tomtoms  beat  with  greater  fury  than  before,  and  soon 
I  found  myself  surrounded  by  savage  men. 

148 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

The  people  formed  a  great  circle,  and  danced  round 
me,  singing,  at  the  same  time  taking  most  beseeching 
postures  and  making  invocations  to  me,  asking  me  to 
do  them  no  harm.  They  acted  as  if  I  were  an  idol. 
When  they  stopped,  I  learned  that  the  name  of  the 
chief  was  Penday.  I  asked  to  see  him.  Some  of  the 
men  went  after  him,  but  came  back  without  him. 
He  sent  the  following  message  to  me:  How  could  he 
dare  to  come  before  the  great  Oguizi,  whom  his  fore- 
fathers had  never  seen  ?  He  would  surely  drop  dead  at 
the  sight.  He  knew  that  I  was  coming,  because  for 
several  nights  a  gentle  wind  hovered  over  the  house 
where  he  slept  and  murmured,  "  The  great  Oguizi  is 
coming  !  the  great  Oguizi  is  coming  !  "  But  he  sent 
word  that  in  three  days  he  would  come  before  me. 

Soon  after  bunches  of  plantain,  two  chickens,  some 
eggs,  and  a  dead  monkey  were  laid  at  my  feet,  which 
showed  that  I  was  welcomed,  and  then  a  hut  was 
given  to  me  that  I  could  occupy  by  myself 


149 


CHAPTER   XXII 

ALARM  OF  MY  HUNTERS  AT  MY  ABSENCE  —  ROGALA 
SETS  OUT  TO  SEARCH  FOR  ME  — HIS  SUPERSTITIOUS 
TERRORS  —  CONSULTS  HIS  OGANA,  OR  IDOL  — FINDS 
MY  TRACES  AT  LAST  AND  FOLLOWS  ME  TO  THE 
VILLAGE 

MEANTIME,  as  I  did  not  return  to  our  camp, 
my  hunters  became  greatly  alarmed.  They 
set  off  in  different  directions  in  the  forest  in  search  of 
me.  Rogala  took  Andekko  with  him,  thinking  that 
the  dog  might  scent  me,  and  also   Ndova. 

He  slept  in  the  forest  that  night,  and  at  daylight 
he  started  again  and  kept  thinking  all  sorts  of  things 
as  he  walked  along.  He  wondered  if  I  had  left 
him  for  good,  and  gone  back  to  the  moon  or  van- 
ished into  the  air.  If  so,  what  would  Rotembo  say 
when  he  returned  without  me?  He  dreaded  his 
chiefs  wrath.  Then  he  thought  that  if  I  was  dis- 
pleased with  him,  all  would  be  over  with  him,  for 
I  would  send  all  sorts  of  evil  upon  him.  Such 
thoughts  crowded  upon  his  mind,  one  after  another. 

But  soon  he  said  to  himself:  "How  can  the  Oguizi 
be  angry   with    me?      Have   we   not   eaten    together? 

150 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Did  he  not  shake  hands  with  me  before  he  left  the 
camp  ?  Did  he  not  say,  '  Take  good  care  of  Ndova 
and  Andekko  '  ?  "  These  thoughts  reassured  him, 
and  gave  him   new  hopes  and  courage. 

After  this  he  seated  himself  on  the  ground,  took 
his  ogana  out  of  his  bag,  and  putting  it  in  front  of 
him,  he  spoke  to  her  thus  :  "  Ogana,  you  know  how 
much  I  love  you  ;  tell  me  where  is  the  Oguizi.  Tell 
me  if  he  is  angry  with  me.  Please,  please,  show  me 
the  way  in  the  forest  where  I  can  find  him.  Do, 
ogana,  do,  ogana."  Suddenly  a  smile  came  over  his 
face.  Ogana  had  said  to  him  that  he  would  find  me. 
Then  putting  back  his  precious  ogana  in  his  bag,  he 
continued  to  seek  for  me  with  the  dog,  Andekko, 
and  Ndova,  who  stood  on  his  shoulder  and  now 
and   then  wandered  in   the  forest. 

Fears  succeeded  hopes  in  spite  of  his  ogana.  Had 
the  Oguizi  left  him,  and  seen  all  he  wanted  to  see  in 
the  big  forest,  and  gone  back  to  the  "  Land  of  the 
Oguizis  "  ?  His^  superstitious  mind  began  to  brood 
again.  He  had  the  same  belief  in  regard  to  me  that 
all  the  people  had,  and  he  was  seized  with  a  great  fear. 
Had  I  changed  shape,  and  was  I  wandering  in  the 
forest  as  an  elephant,  antelope,  leopard,  or  as  a  tiny 
insect.^  Perhaps  I  had  taken  the  shape  of  a  bird  and 
was  following  him. 

151 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

At  this  thought  he  looked  round  to  see  if  he  could 
discover  any  birds  on  the  trees  near  him,  and  saw 
a  big  one  looking  down  upon  him.  He  was  filled 
with  fear,  and  said  :  "  Oguizi,  if  you  have  taken  the 
shape  of  that  bird,  look  into  my  heart  and  you  will 
see  that  I  love  you."  Then  he  took  some  of  the 
food  he  had  with  him,  and  left  a  great  part"  of  it 
for  the  bird,  and  continued  his  way,  looking  now 
and  then  up  at  the  branches  of  the  trees  to  see  if 
the  bird  was  still  following  him.  Then  hearing 
"  Hi-Hi-Hi,"  a  noise  made  by  a  peculiar  species 
of  grasshopper,  he  thought  I  might  have  taken  that 
shape,  so   I   could  not  be  seen  by   him. 

Once  more  he  took  his  ogana  from  his  bag  and 
invoked  her  aid.  Still  he  went  on  his  march  in  search 
of  me,  his  mind  perfectly  bewildered  with  different 
thoughts.  When,  lo  !  to  his  supreme  joy,  he  discov- 
ered some  of  the  marks  I  had  made  upon  the  bark 
of  trees,  broken  off"  branches,  and  large  heaps  of 
leaves  which  I  had  laid  along  the  path.  After  this 
he  discovered  that  I  had  left  the  path  and  gone 
into  the  forest ;  and  again  he  lost  all  traces  of  me. 
He  stopped  and  talked  to  Andekko  and  said  :  "  An- 
dekko,  we  have  lost  the  Oguizi.  Perhaps  he  is  gone 
forever.  Perhaps  he  is  in  the  forest.  Let  us  find 
him.      Help  me,  Andekko,  to  find  him."     Andekko 

152 


"  When    I  saiu   him^   I  came   towards   h'un^   and  in   an 
instant  ive   zvere   in   each    other  s   arms'' 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

looked  into  his  face  and  barked.  He  seemed  to 
know  what  Rogala  said  to  him.  But  soon  after  this 
he  found  my  traces  again,  and  followed  them  to  the 
village  where   I   was. 

Suddenly  the  villagers  heard  a  voice  outside  of  the 
stockade  asking:  "  Is  the  Oguizi  here.^" 

A  number  of  voices  answered :  "  Yes,  the  Oguizi  is 
here  with  us,  and  slept  in  our  village  last  night." 

Then  they  opened  the  door.  The  man  was  Ro- 
gala, followed  by  Andekko,  and  having  Ndova  on  his 
shoulder.  I  was  at  the  other  end  of  the  street.  When 
I  saw  him,  I  came  towards  him,  and  in  an  instant  we 
were  in  each  other's  arms,  to  the  great  astonishment 
of  the  people  of  the  village,  who  were  mute  with 
wonder  at  our  outburst  of  friendship.  Rogala  shouted, 
"  We  are  men  !  we  are  men  !  " 

Andekko  gave  vent  to  barks  of  joy,  leaping  round 
me,  and  Ndova  jumped  from  Rogala's  shoulder  upon 
mine,  uttering  the  peculiar  sounds  which  showed  his 
pleasure  in  seeing  me  again. 

After  we  were  seated  Rogala  recounted  to  me  what 
I  have  already  told,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  story 
he  whispered  to. me:  "Oguizi,  I  hope  you  have  not 
told  where  we  live  in  the  forest."  I  whispered,  "  No  ;  " 
and  after  a  while  the  Bakalais  crowded  round  Rogala 
and  asked  him  all  kinds  of  questions  about  me. 

153 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

WITCHCRAFT  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BAKALAIS  —  TWO  OF 
THE  CLASS  "  BEWITCHED  "—  A  NEGRO  ALBINO  — 
THE  IDOL  MAKAMBO  — HER  DREAD  APPEARANCE  — 
RETURN  TO  CAMP  — MONKEYS  OVERRUN  THE  CAMP 
—  I  DRIVE  THEM  OFF— ESCAPE  OF  NDOVA  —  HIS 
UNEXPECTED    RETURN 

THE  Bakalais,  like  all  the  people  of  the  great 
forest,  were  very  superstitious,  and  believed  in 
witchcraft.  I  found  that  the  people  had  moved  only 
a  few  months  before,  and  that  they  had  abandoned 
their  former  village  on  this  account.  Two  men  had 
been  "  bewitched,'*  and  had  died  within  a  day  of  each 
other,  and  this  was  the  cause  of  the  people  moving 
away.  When  I  arrived,  they  were  holding  a  great 
council  to  find  out  who  the  sorcerers  and  witches 
were,  and  whether  they  lived  in  their  village  or  in 
some  others. 

At  sunset  the  children  ceased  to  play,  and  the  vil- 
lage became  quiet.  There  arose  in  the  air  one  of 
those  mournful,  heart-piercing  chants, — a  long,  sus- 
tained wail  of  anguish  and  sorrow.  Tears  rolled  down 
the  cheeks  of  the  women.     "  We  shall  never  see  An- 

154 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

guilsi  any  more,  we  shall  never  see  Obindji  any  more," 
they  sang  over  and  over.  These  were  the  names  of 
the  two  men  who  had  died.  They  sang  for  about  half 
an  hour.  After  a  while  I  saw  the  people  leading 
about  through  the  dim  light  what  I  thought  to  be  a 
naked  white  man.  I  could  not  believe  my  eyes,  but 
as  he  came  near  me  I  kept  cool  and  did  not  show  my 
astonishment.  When  he  came  in  front  of  me  I  recog- 
nized the  man  to  be  a  negro  albino,  for  his  features, 
though  his  skin  was  white,  were  those  of  a  negro. 
His  hair  was  woolly,  his  eyes  pinkish. 

Later  in  the  evening,  an  idol,  called  Makambo,  was 
brought  out  into  the  street,  to  remain  there  all  night. 
It  represented  a  woman,  and  was  of  the  size  of  life. 
She  had  cloven  feet ;  her  eyes  and  tongue  were  of 
copper ;  she  wore  bracelets  around  her  arms  and  rings 
of  copper  around  her  ankles.  She  had  around  her 
neck  a  necklace  of  leopard's  claws,  and  as  a  pendant 
wore  the  canine  of  a  leopard  also.  The  skin  of  a  snake 
was  wound  around  her  legs. 

That  night  nobody  came  out  in  the  street,  and  no- 
body talked  in  the  village,  for  fear  of  displeasing 
Makambo.  The  people  expected  her  to  talk  to 
them  that  night  and  to  give  some  advice.  The 
medicine  man  or  the  chief  of  the  village  interprets 
to  the  people  what  the  idol  says. 

155 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Makambo  was  very  much  venerated,  and  during  the 
night  food  was  put  before  her.  In  the  morning  the 
people  said  that  Makambo  had  nodded  her  head  and 
smiled,  showing  that  she  was  pleased  with  the  offering 
of  game  she  had  received.  But  we  did  not  wait  to 
learn  the  result  of  the  witchcraft  proceedings,  and  leav- 
ing the  Bakalai  we  found  our  way  back  to  our  camp. 

"I  am  going  into  the  forest,"  I  said  to  Rogala, 
Shinshooko,  and  Alapai  one  morning  soon  after  our 
return,  "  to  look  for  new  species  of  birds.  Perhaps 
I  shall  find  some  that  I  have  never  seen  before.  I 
do  not  intend  to  go  far  away." 

My  hunters  replied  :  "  We  three  are  going  to  look 
at  all  the  traps  we  have  made  to  see  if  they  are  in 
order  and  if  game  has  been  trapped.  We  are  going 
to  take  Andekko  and  leave  Ndova  in  the  camp." 

So  we  all  ascended  the  ladder  and  wished  each  other 
good  luck.  Nothing  strange  happened  to  me.  1 
shot  no  birds,  for  I  had  killed  before  this  specimens  of 
all  the  species  I  saw  that  day,  and  had  stuffed  them. 

As  I  approached  the  camp  on  my  way  back,  I  heard 
a  great  uproar  among  what  I  thought  was  a  large  troop 
of  monkeys,  to  judge  by  the  noise.  They  were  jabber- 
ing away  at  a  great  rate,  and  seemed  to  be  in  a  great 
state  of  excitement.      But  to  my  astonishment  I  dis- 

156 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

covered  that  they  were  in  our  camp.  What  were 
they  doing  there  ?  They  were  evidently  after  Ndova. 
They  had  come  to  pay  him  a  visit.  He  had  mani- 
festly called  them.  I  walked  carefully,  and  after  as- 
cending the  ladder  I  raised  my  head  above  the  fence. 

The  most  extraordinary  sight  was  before  me.  The 
monkeys  had  taken  possession  of  our  camp.  They 
were  everywhere,  and  wandering  around  in  every 
direction.  They  all  belonged  to  the  ndova  species. 
I  counted  seventeen  of  them.  They  had  clearly 
arrived  just  a  little  before  me.  A  number  sur- 
rounded Ndova's  cage.  Some  were  on  the  sides, 
some  on  the  top.  They  were  talking  to  Ndova, 
who  answered  them.  They  were  trying  to  break 
the  cage.  The  most  eager  amongst  them  was  the 
leader  of  the   troop,   a  very  big  fellow. 

It  was  a  sight  indeed  !  I  was  very  glad  we  had 
made  Ndova*s  house  so  strong.  The  leader  wanted 
badly  to  reach  Ndova.  He  would  bite  the  creepers 
that  tied  the  poles  together,  then  stop  and  talk  to 
Ndova,  then  go  to  work  again. 

Unfortunately  I  could  not  see  what  Ndova  was  do- 
ing inside ;  was  he  also  trying  to  break  his  cage  and 
go  to  the  monkeys  ?  I  watched  silently ;  but  I 
began  to  fear  that  the  cage  would  gradually  be  broken 
by  the  big  monkey.      So  I  gave  a  heavy  cough.     At 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

this  all  the  monkeys  looked  around.  The  big  male, 
their  leader,  gave  a  peculiar  cry  of  alarm.  In  an  in- 
stant they  were  all  over  the  fence  and  among  the  trees. 
Soon  after  I  heard  them  utter  loud  calls,  which  Ndova 
answered.  Then  all  became  silent,  and  after  a  while  I 
heard  the  branch  of  a  tree  near  the  palisade  bend 
under  the  weight  of  a  monkey  that  had  come  back. 
1  looked  up  and  saw  a  very  big  monkey.  He  was 
the  leader,  and  easily  recognized  by  his  large  size, 
for  he  was  much  bigger  than  all  the  others.  He 
began  to  talk  to  our  monkey,  who  answered  him  ;  then 
he  jumped  down  upon  another  branch,  and  I  saw  him 
scale  the  palisade  and  get  on  the  top  of  Ndova's  house, 
and  just  as  he  was  beginning  to  try  to  break  into  it, 
I  gave  a  great  shout,  and  the  big  fellow,  in  three  bounds, 
fled  outside  the  camp.  A  short  time  afterwards  he 
came  back  again,  this  time  very  slyly,  and  I  saw  him 
only  when  he  came  over  the  palisade.  I  fired  a  gun. 
He  uttered  a  shrill  cry  of  fright,  fled  once  more,  and 
never  came  back. 

When  my  hunters  returned,  I  told  them  what  had 
happened.  After  I  had  finished,  Rogala  said  :  "  The 
leader  of  the  troop  wanted  Ndova  to  go  away  with 
him." 

The  following  day  I  took  Ndova  with  me  into  the 
forest  and  loosed  him.     He  followed  me  closely,  but 

158 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

I  was  suddenly  startled  by  his  calling  monkeys.  He 
was  answered  at  once  by  the  big  voice  of  one  of  his 
species.  Then  I  saw  Ndovago  from  tree  to  tree  in  the 
direction  of  the  troop  of  the  ndovas  as  fast  as  he  could. 
I  shouted,  "  Ndova,  Ndova,"  but  he  did  not  heed  my 
voice  and  disappeared  amongst  the  trees.  I  went 
after  him,  and  after  a  while  I  heard  a  strange  racket 
among  the  monkeys.  They  were  evidently  welcom- 
ing Ndova,  and  were  expressing  their  feelings  by 
different  sounds  or  words  of  their  own. 

I  gave  up  Ndova,  and  was  returning  to  the  camp 
with  a  sad  heart,  when  all  at  once  I  heard  a  rustling 
of  branches  over  my  head  and  then  a  chuckle.  It  was 
Ndova.  I  called  him,  and  soon  after  he  was  on  my 
shoulders  grinning.  I  said  :  "  Ndova,  you  won't  catch 
me  again  letting  you  entirely  free  in  the  forest.  After 
this  you  will  be  tied  to  a  cord  when  you  go  out  with 
me."  But  I  had  no  cord  with  me  then,  so  I  had  to 
leave  him  to  himself.  He  did  not  run  away,  however, 
and  we  reached  the  camp  together. 

When  the  men  returned  in  the  evening  I  told  them 
how  afraid  I  had  been  that  we  had  lost  Ndova. 

"  Yes,"  they  said ;  "  hereafter  he  must  be  tied  and 
always  led  by  a  rope." 


159 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

WE  COME  TO  THE  END  OF  OUR  PROVISIONS  —  ANTE- 
LOPE SKIN  BOILED  FURNISHES  US  A  REPAST  — 
NDOVA  DECOYS  MONKEYS  AND  WE  SOON  GET  FOOD 
ENOUGH  —  ALAPAI     FINDS    FRUITS    AND    NUTS    ALSO 

ONE  day  when  Andekko  had  been  hunting  by 
himself,  he  returned  with  such  a  forlorn 
appearance  that  we  knew  he  had  found  nothing. 
He  had  been  absent  about  three  hours. 

"  Poor  Andekko  !  "  I  said  to  Rogala  ;  "  look  at  his 
ribs,  and  how  they  stick  out,  and  the  numerous  scars 
left  from  the  wounds  he  has  received  fighting  wild 
animals  are  more  conspicuous  than  ever." 

He  was  indeed  a  sight.  The  dear  old  fellow 
seemed  to  know  that  I  was  talking  of  him,  as  he 
had  heard  his  name,  and  was  looking  at  me  and  wag- 
ging his  tail  all  the  time  I  was  speaking.  I  fancied 
he  was  saying  to  me  :  "  Let  us  leave  this  place.  It  is 
no  good.  There  is  no  game  here.  Can't  you  see 
how  thin  I  am  ?  " 

Looking  at  Ndova,  I  said  to  Rogala:  "  Ndova  is 
much  better  off  than  Andekko.      He  is  not  so  thin. 

1 60 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Would  you  take  a  knife  and  kill  our  friend  Ndova, 
who  has  been  so  often  the  cause  of  our  getting  food, 
thus  preventing  us  from  starving  ?  " 

Then  I  recounted  one  by  one  all  the  different  times 
Ndova  and  Andekko  had  saved  us  from  hunger  or 
starvation  and  said  :  "  Rogala,  Ndova  and  Andekko 
have  been  faithful  to  us.  We  shall  be  faithful  to 
them,  and  if  we  get  food  we  will  divide  it  amongst 
all  of  us." 

All  the  time  I  was  thinking  what  to  do  to  relieve 
our  hunger.  We  were  in  desperate  straits.  Suddenly 
I  said :  *'  Rogala,  I  have  found  food.'* 

At  my  words  Rogala  brightened  up.  "  Where  is 
the  food  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"There,"  I  said,  pointing  to  my  bed.  He  glanced 
there,  but  there  was  no  food  to  be  seen,  and  he  looked 
disappointed. 

"Yes,  Rogala,"  I  persisted,  "there  is  food  on  my 
bed." 

Two  antelope  skins  which  we  had  stretched  and 
dried  lay  on  my  bed.  I  had  intended  to  make  shoes, 
leggings,  and  trousers  with  them.  But,  pointing  to 
the  two  skins,  I  said:  "We  will  boil  these  skins  and 
eat  them.  That  will  keep  us  all  from  starving  until 
we  find  game." 

Rogala's  eyes  were  now  full  of  life  and  hope.  I 
II  i6i 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

wondered  why  I  had  not  thought  of  this  before.  So 
we  made  preparations  at  once  for  a  meal.  We  cut 
off  a  part  of  one  of  the  antelope  skins,  and  poured 
hot  water  upon  the  hair  and  scraped  and  washed  it 
afterwards.  Then  we  cut  the  skin  into  very  small 
pieces,  and  boiled  these  until  they  became  quite  soft, 
after  which,  as  a  relish,  we  added  some  salt  and  some 
red  pepper  —  I  could  hardly  eat  anything  without 
pepper.  When  ready,  we  poured  the  contents  into 
a  wooden  dish.  This  done,  we  sat  around  it,  An- 
dekko  standing  by  us  and  waiting  with  eager  eyes 
for  his  share  of  the  boiled  skin.  We  thought  the 
food  was  not  bad,  for  we  were  famished. 

After  the  meal  I  said  :  "  Men,  these  two  antelope 
skins  will  furnish  us  food  for  three  or  four  days,  and 
that  will  give  us  time  to  find  game  and  nuts."  We 
felt  much  stronger  after  our  meal. 

The  following  day  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  went  to 
look  after  the  traps  to  see  if  any  animals  had  been 
caught.  Rogala  and  I  went  into  the  forest  with 
Ndova  and  Andekko. 

After  a  long  walk  Ndova  uttered  the  sounds  made 
by  his  species  —  the  white-nosed  monkeys  or  ndovas. 
They  answered  his  call ;  we  could  hear  them  coming 
towards  us.  Rogala  immediately  tied  Ndova  with  a 
rope  and  held  him  fast.     Then  we  hid  under  a  short 

162 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

tree  with  thick  foliage.  Soon  the  monkeys  were 
above  our  heads  talking  to  Ndova,  who  answered 
them.  We  stood  still,  then  moved  carefully  out  of 
our  hiding-place,  having  in  the  meantime  made 
Ndova  fast  to  a  branch  of  the  tree.  We  took  aim, 
fired,  and  two  big  monkeys  fell  dead  almost  upon 
our  heads. 

Rogala  gave  a  grim  look  of  satisfaction.  Then 
looking  at  the  two  monkeys,  1  said  to  Rogala:  "  Look 
at  what  Ndova  has  done  for  us.  Without  him  we 
should  be  without  food  and  starving." 

We  could  not  wait  until  we  returned  to  the  camp. 
We  lighted  a  big  fire,  cut  one  of  the  monkeys  in  two, 
and  roasted  it.  So  we  had  a  good  meal,  and  gave  a 
lot  to  Andekko. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  that  evening  in  the  camp 
round  the  roast  half  of  one  of  the  monkeys.  Alapai, 
who  had  discovered  a  cluster  of  trees  with  nuts, 
brought  a  number  of  tondas,  berries  and  fruits  ;  so 
Ndova  had  also  a  feast. 


163 


CHAPTER   XXV 

I  FIND  STRANGE  FOOTPRINTS  ON  THE  BANKS  OF  A 
RIVULET  —  ROGALA  AND  I  SET  OFF  IN  PURSUIT  — 
WE  FIND  A  MAN  UNDER  A  KOOLA  TREE  —  SUR- 
PRISE AND  CAPTURE  HIM  —  TERROR  OF  OUR  CAP- 
TIVE—WE TAKE  HIM  TO  CAMP  AND  DISCOVER 
HE     IS     A    CANNIBAL 

/^NE  day  I  had  not  walked  two  hours  when  I 
^^^  was  startled  by  the  discovery  of  two  human 
footprints  on  the  banks  of  a  little  rivulet.  They 
looked  so  fresh  that  I  thought  the  man  had  been 
there  but  a  short  time  before  me.  I  looked  around, 
but  saw  no  one,  and  heard  nothing.  I  held  one  of 
my  revolvers  ready   to  fire  at  sight. 

I  hurried  back  to  the  camp  and  told  Rogala  of  my 
discovery.  He  listened  attentively,  and  then  said  with 
much  earnestness  :  "  I  wonder  if  the  Bakalais  of  the 
village  we  left  have  sent  a  spy  to  see  where  we  live 
and  learn  what  we  are  doing." 

"No  fear  of  that,  Rogala,"  I  said;  "no  Bakalal 
would  dare  to  follow  the  Oguizi.  The  man  is  either 
an  elephant  hunter  or  a  runaway  slave,  or  a  man  who 

164/ 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

has    fled  from  his  tribe  or  village  on  being    accused 
of  witchcraft." 

Rogala  got  up  and  went  for  his  gun  ;  then  he  said : 
"  Oguizi,  let  us  go  in  search  of  that  man.  We  must 
capture  him,  for  who  knows  but  he  may  have  dis- 
covered our  camp  ^  " 

Taking  "  Bulldog "  with  me,  we  started,  Rogala 
whispering  to  me,  as  we  went  along,  the  well-known 
caution  :  "  Let  us  not  make  more  noise  than  a  leopard 
in  search  of  prey,  or  a  fish  swimming." 

We  came  to  the  little  stream  where  I  had  seen  the 
footprints.  Rogala  said  to  me,  after  he  had  looked  at 
them:  ''This  man  has  taken  this  rivulet  as  a  path, 
and  followed  the  water.'* 

With  these  words  he  did  the  same  thing.  I  followed, 
and  we  waded  down  with  the  current.  We  had  not 
walked  more  than  one  hour  when  Rogala  gave  a  low 
click  and  pointed  with  his  finger  to  a  particular 
spot  near  a  big  tree.  Looking  in  that  direction,  I  saw 
a  man  under  a  koola  tree  picking  up  some  of  the  nuts 
that  had  fallen  on  the  ground,  breaking  them  with 
a  stone,  and  eating  them  voraciously.  He  had  evi- 
dently been  starving. 

We  hid  behind  a  tree,  and  watched  silently  the 
movements  of  the  stranger.  We  did  not  dare  to 
whisper  for  fear  of  being  heard. 

.165 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

Rogala,  who  was  about  two  yards  from  me,  came  to 
my  side,  and  made  a  sign  to  move  away  further.  He 
was  very  much  excited.  His  forehead  was  covered 
with  perspiration.  When  we  were  at  a  safe  distance, 
he  whispered :  "  This  man  is  not  a  Bakalai ;  he  is 
from  a  far  country.  I  think  he  has  run  av/ay  from 
his  people.  Let  us  surprise  him,  and  if  he  runs  away 
from  us  I  will  shoot  at  him  and  kill  him." 

I  saw  by  the  looks  of  Rogala  that  he  was  in  earnest. 

"No,  Rogala,"  I  replied,  "we  must  not  kill  him  if 
he  runs  away,  but  try  to  capture  him.  Then  we  shall 
find  out  where  he  comes  from,  and  how  far  off  his 
country  is.  As  soon  as  we  come  near  him  we  will 
shout  to  him  to  stand  still.  I  will  fire  *  Bulldog,' 
and  if  he  has  never  heard  a  gun  fired  in  his  life  he 
will  be  so  scared  that  he  will  not  move.  If  he  runs 
away,  we  will  run  after  him.  We  are  good  runners, 
we  can  go  quickly  through  the  jungle.  Now  let 
us  crawl  towards  him  ;  you  keep  on  his  right,  I  on 
his  left." 

We  walked  so  carefully  that  not  one  of  our  steps 
could  be  heard.  Rogala  once  moved  towards  me  just 
to  whisper:  "  Oguizi,  he  must  not  escape  from  us." 

We  saw  that  the  man  had  a  bag  of  poisoned  arrows 
hanging  by  his  side,  and  on  the  ground  lay  his  bow. 

Nearer  and  nearer  we  came   to   the  stranger,  who 

i66 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

was  busy  breaking  the  koola  nuts,  when  suddenly 
he  turned  round  and  looked  in  our  direction.  Fortu- 
nately we  crouched  in  time  by  a  fallen  tree.  Had  he 
heard  us  ^  We  peeped  above  the  tree.  No,  for 
he  again  began  to  crack  koola  nuts,  and  was  putting 
the  kernels  in  a  little  bag.  We  were  within  ten 
yards  of  him. 

Suddenly,  without  a  word  of  warning,  Rogala 
jumped  up,  crossed  the  stream,  and  uttered  a  terrific 
war-cry,  running  towards  the  man.  When  I  saw  this, 
I  fired  "  Bulldog "  and  ran  also  towards  him.  The 
poor  fellow  seemed  to  be  spellbound  and  unable  to 
get  up.  As  we  came  up  to  him,  he  took  hold  of 
Rogala's  feet,  which  meant  that  he  put  himself  under 
his  protection,  and  looked  at  me  with  great  terror. 
He  trembled  all  over,  and  could  not  utter  a  word. 

I  looked  at  him  and  smiled,  but  this  did  not  seem 
to  reassure  him.  Rogala  spoke  to  him  in  several  lan- 
guages that  he  had  learned  from  other  slaves,  but  our 
prisoner  shook  his  head  to  show  that  he  did  not 
understand.  Then  I  spoke  to  him  in  several  of  the 
languages  I  had  learned,  but  he  understood  me  no 
better.  Thereupon  we  made  signs  to  try  to  find  out 
from  where  he  came.  At  this  he  looked  up,  trying  to 
see  from  the  light  where  the  sun  was.  Then  he 
pointed  in  the  direction  of  the  east. 

167 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

"  He  must  be  from  a  far-off"  country,"  I  said  to 
Rogala,  "  for  he  seems  not  to  understand  any  of  the 
languages  we  have  spoken  to  him." 

Our  captive  was  tall,  and  emaciated  from  hunger. 
His  teeth  were  filed  sharp  to  a  point,  and  gave  him  a 
very  savage  appearance.  Every  part  of  his  body  ex- 
cept his  legs  was  tattooed  all  over.  On  his  stomach 
was  the  representation  of  a  crocodile,  showing  that  he 
must  have  lived  on  the  shore  of  a  lake  or  of  a  river. 
Upon  his  cheeks  were  spots  of  the  size  of  large  peas. 
His  forehead  was  also  tattooed. 

"  We  must  be  very  watchful,"  said  Rogala;  "per- 
haps the  man  understands  some  of  the  languages  we 
spoke  to  him,  after  all." 

Then  he  broke  the  man's  bow,  and  buried  his  bag 
of  poisoned  arrows  in  the  ground,  for  fear  that  man  or 
beast  would  be  hurt  by  them. 

Our  prisoner  was  very  much  frightened  when  he 
saw  this,  and  looked  at  me  with  imploring  eyes.  He 
had  divined  instinctively  that  I  was  the  master  ;  his 
looks  seemed  to  say  :  "  Do  not  kill  me  !  " 

After  a  pause  I  said  :  "  Rogala,  if  our  prisoner  tries 
to  run  away,  let  us  spare  his  life  and  not  shoot  him  ; 
every  man  tries  to  run  away  from  the  people  he  fears 
in  search  of  liberty.-  You  would  do  likewise  if  Ro- 
tembo  were  not  a  good  master." 

168 


''  Suddenly    Rogala   uttered  a   terrijie   ivar-cr\   and  ran 
towards   the  mayiT 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Rogala  looked  at  me  in  blank  astonishment,  and 
then  said  :  "  Oguizi,  I  will  not  try  to  kill  him  if  he 
runs  away  ;  but,"  he  added,  "  he  must  not  run  away." 

We  let  our  prisoner  crack  more  koola  nuts,  and 
waited  until  his  appetite  was  satisfied;  then  we  started 
for  our  camp,  our  captive  walking  between  Rogala, 
who  led,  and  myself  in  the  rear.  Rogala  had  taken 
the  precaution  to  tie  his  hands  behind  his  back  before 
starting.  We  walked  silently,  not  one  of  us  uttering 
a  word  until  we  came  to  our  palisade.  Our  captive 
then  showed  signs  of  great  fear. 

I  told  Rogala  to  go  over  first  and  tie  Andekko,  for 
I  was  sure  the  dog  would  try  to  bite  him.  When  we 
were  all  inside,  we  gave  our  prisoner  a  good  warm 
meal  of  plantains  —  a  few  of  which  still  remained  — 
and  a  piece  of  monkey.  Rogala  washed  his  body 
with  warm  water  and  then  rubbed  it  with  oil,  for  his 
skin  was  dried  and  parched  ;  he  seemed  very  grateful. 
Soon  he  fell  asleep  on  the  bare  ground. 

Looking  at  him  as  he  slept,  I  said  to  Rogala:  "  The 
poor  fellow  may  have  been  days  and  weeks  in  the 
forest  subsisting  on  nuts,  berries,  and  fruit  when  he 
could  find  them,  avoiding  all  the  time  the  paths  for  fear 
of  coming  in  contact  with  people.  For  you  know," 
I  continued,  "  that  as  soon  as  a  man  is  out  of  his 
country,  and  comes  out  of  his  circle  of  friends  belong- 

169 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

ing  to  another  tribe,  he  is  sure  to  be  captured  and 
made  a  slave." 

"  That  is  true,"  replied  Rogala.  "  To-morrow 
morning  we  will  try  to  learn  something  about  him." 

Andekko  did  not  take  kindly  to  our  new-comer, 
and  growled  at  him  all  the  time.  We  agreed  to 
watch  in  turn  over  the  captive  during  the  night,  as 
his  bonds  were  not  very  strong.  We  lighted  several 
fires  round  him,  and  tied  Andekko  for  fear  that  he 
might  bite   him. 

When  I  awoke  in  the  morning,  I  saw  that  he  was 
still  asleep,  Andekko  watching  him  and  growling  at 
him  now  and  then.  I  looked  for  Rogala,  but  he  was 
not  there.  I  wondered  where  he  had  gone.  Soon 
after  I  heard  an  axe.  Rogala  was  cutting  down  a  tree. 
After  a  while  all  became  silent,  and  Rogala  appeared  be- 
fore me  and  told  me  that  he  had  cut  two  logs.  After 
he  had  brought  these  inside,  Rogala  went  to  work  on 
a  "  nchogo,"  and  I  guessed  at  once  that  it  was  to  keep 
our  prisoner  captive  and  prevent  him  from  running 
away.  The  nchogo  is  composed  of  two  logs  with 
holes,  —  the  larger  one  to  imprison  the  feet,  the 
smaller  for  the  hands. 

The  poor  fellow  was  very  much  frightened  when  he 
saw  the  nchogo.  He  knew  that  it  was  for  him. 
When  I  saw  this,  I  said  to  Rogala  :  "  This  man  belongs 

170 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND    JUNGLE 

to  a  tribe  living  in  the  great  forest,  for  he  knows  what 
a  nchogo  is.  In  a  barren  or  prairie  country  they  have 
no  trees  to  make  nchogos  of.  But  we  must  treat  our 
prisoner  gently,  give  him  plenty  of  food  to  show  him 
that  we  care  for  him  and  that  we  are  his  friends.  Then 
in  a  few  days,  after  he  has  got  accustomed  to  us,  we  will 
free  him  from  the  nchogo." 

That  day  we  gave  him  three  meals,  and  ate  by  his 
side,  and  he  saw  that  we  had  the  same  food. 

When  evening  came,  I  said :  "  Rogala,  you  will  go 
to  sleep  while  I  watch." 

Soon  both  Rogala  and  our  prisoner  were  asleep. 
Towards  two  o'clock  I  awoke  Rogala  for  the  watch 
and  went  to  sleep  myself. 

In  the  morning  I  said  :  "  Rogala,  let  us  think  over 
and  see  if  you  and  I  have  spoken  to  our  prisoner  all 
the  languages  and  dialects   we  know." 

So  we  began  to  think,  and  finally  Rogala  said :  "  I 
did  not  speak  to  him   in  the   Osheba  language." 

"  Why,"  said  I,  "  do  you  think  he  is  a  cannibal  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  he  is,"  he  replied. 

Rogala  spoke  to  him  then  in  Osheba,  and  had  ut- 
tered but  a  few  words  when  the  man's  face  brightened 
up,  for  he  found  that  we  should  be  able  to  understand 
him.  He  was  a  cannibal.  There  was  no  doubt 
about  it. 

171 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Several  days  passed  by.  We  got  along  very  well 
with  our  captive,  although  he  was  kept  in  stocks.  He 
seemed  contented  with  his  lot.  He  found  that  we 
treated  him  otherwise  like  one  of  ourselves.  He  ate 
with  us,  and  consequently  had  the  same  food.  When 
food  was  very  scarce,  we  divided  it  equally  among  us, 
but  of  course  when  we  had  only  nuts  or  berries  he 
had  only  these  to  eat,  and  if  we  were  hungry  he  had 
to  go  hungry  also. 

Several  times  I  proposed  to  Rogala  to  take  him  out 
of  the  nchogo,  but  Rogala  was  always  unwilling. 
Thinking  that  he  was  wiser  than  I  in  this  matter, 
as  he  knew  the  native  character  better  than  1  did,  I 
let  him  have  his  own  way. 

We  had  given  the  name  of  Akenda-Mbani  ("never 
go  twice  to  the  same  place  ")  to  our  prisoner,  for  we 
knew  that  he  would  never  go  back  to  his  own  country. 

One  afternoon  Shinshooko  and  Alapai  made  their 
appearance,  bringing  with  them  four  elephants'  tusks. 
They  had  found  two  elephants  in  the  pits  they  had 
dug  in  the  forest  for  the  purpose  of  entrapping  the 
huge  beasts. 

They  were  very  much  astonished  when  they  saw 
Akenda-Mbani  and  we  told  them  how  we  had  cap- 
tured him. 


172 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

NDOVA  FALLS  SICK—  STUNG  BY  A  SCORPION  OR  BITTEN 
BY  A  CENTIPEDE  — REFUSES  TO  EAT  — GROWS  WEAKER 
IN  SPITE  OF  ALL  OUR  CARE  AND  NURSING— ONE 
MORNING  I  FIND  HIM  DEAD  —  WE  MAKE  A  COFFIN 
FOR    HIM    AND    BURY    HIM    IN    THE    FOREST 

THE  following  morning,  to  my  astonishment  and 
no  small  consternation,  Ndova  was  ill,  and 
refused  to  eat  the  berries  and  nuts  given  to  him,  of 
which  ordinarily  he  was  very  fond.  He  looked  at 
them,  but  would  not  even  take  them  in  his  hands. 
His  body  was  hot,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  had 
a  high  fever.  His  heart  beat  very  fast.  It  was 
very  strange,  I  thought ;  he  had  been  so  well  the 
evening  before. 

I  said  to  Rogala :  "  I  wonder  if  Ndova  could  have 
been  stung  by  a  scorpion  or  a  centipede  during  the 
night,  or  perhaps  a  small  poisonous  snake  entered  his 
house  and  bit  him  when  he  tried  to  play  with  it." 

"  No,"  said  Rogala,  "  monkeys  are  like  peo- 
ple ;  they  are  afraid  of  snakes  and  do  not  play 
with  them." 

173 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

I  took  Ndova  on  my  knees  and  examined  his 
body,  on  which  I  discovered  a  red  spot,  showing 
that  he  had  been  stung  either  by  a  scorpion  or  a 
centipede. 

"  Look  !  *'  I  said  to  Rogala,  pointing  out  the  place 
to  him.  "  Ndova  has  been  stung  by  a  scorpion 
or  a  centipede." 

"  It  is  so,"  replied  Rogala. 

There  are  two  or  three  species  of  centipedes  and 
scorpions  ;  the  very  poisonous  ones  are  dark  red, 
almost  black.  Rogala  looked  carefully  at  the  red 
spot,  and  then  said  in  a  thoughtful  and  sad  voice  :  "  I 
am  afraid  it  is  all  over  with  Ndova,  for  we  black  men 
die  of  the  sting  of  this  bad  kind  of  scorpion  and  cen- 
tipede, or  else,  if  we  escape,  we  are  very  ill.  Their 
stings  are  often  as  dangerous  as  the  bites  of  poisonous 
snakes." 

I  immediately  gave  a  little  dose  of  medicine  to 
Ndova,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  do  him  any  good.  That 
night  we  all  went  to  sleep  feeling  very  sad. 

At  break  of  day  I  went  to  Ndova  to  see  how  he  was. 
I  said,  "  Good-morning,  Ndova,"  but  he  remained 
quiet  in  his  little  house.  He  did  not  come  out,  as  he 
had  always  done  before,  and  jump  on  my  shoulder,  and 
give  a  chuckle,  which  probably  meant  in  the  monkey 
language  of  the  ndova  tribe,  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you." 

174 


"  He  ate  ivith 


h   us^   and  consequently   had  the  same  food.'' 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Instead  of  the  chuckle  I  heard  an  indistinct  sound, 
and  he  looked  at  me  in  a  forlorn  way  as  if  to  say,  "  I 
am  very  ill." 

I  felt  his  body.  It  was  hotter  than  the  day  before, 
and  his  pulse  beat  so  quickly  that  I  felt  he  could  not 
live  much  longer. 

I  shouted  to  Rogala :  "  Ndova  is  very,  very  ill ; 
come  and  look  at  him ;  "  and  he  came. 

"Truly,"  he  said,  "Ndova  is  very,  very  ill  indeed." 

"If  Ndova  dies,"  I  said,  "we  lose  a  very  good 
friend  who  has  been  invaluable  to  us  in  this  forest. 
Never  shall  we  get  another  monkey  as  intelligent." 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days  poor  Ndova  had  grown 
so  thin  that  we  could  hardly  recognize  him.  His 
eyes  had  entirely  lost  their  mischievous  expression, 
and  could  only  give  us  a  blank  look.  I  put  a 
little  jacket  on  him  which  I  made  out  of  a  woollen 
shirt.  I  made  a  little  bed,  shaking  the  leaves 
thoroughly,  and  laid  him  upon  it,  and  covered  him 
with  what  was  left  of  the  woollen  shirt.  Then  I 
said  :  "  Ndova,  I  am  going  into  the  forest  to  get 
berries  for  you." 

When  I  returned  I  put  some  berries  before  his  lips, 
but  his  mouth  did  not  open  to  eat  them.  "  Eat  these, 
Ndova,"  I  said  to  him  ;  but  he  only  answered  me  by 
a  look.     Before    dark    I   went   to  say  good-night   to 

175 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

him,  but  he  had  not  the  strength  to  move  his  arms, 
which  were  under  his  little  blanket.  I  tucked  him 
in,  and  while  I  was  doing  so,  his  eyes  looked  at  me  in 
a  blank  sort  of  way.  I  said  to  him  :  "  Dear  Ndova, 
I  wish  you  could  know  how  much  we  think  of  you, 
and  how  we  shall  miss  you  if  you  die." 

"  I  do  not  think  we  shall  find  Ndova  alive  to- 
morrow morning,"  I  said  to  Rogala,  who  was  by 
my  side. 

I  went  to  bed  with  a  heavy  heart,  thinking  how 
many  times  Ndova  had  rescued  us  from  hunger  and 
perhaps  starvation.  I  awoke  several  times  during  the 
night,  and  each  time  I  got  up  and  went  to  see  if  Ndova 
was  dead.  His  life  was  ebbing  away,  his  pulse  was 
very  low,  but  he  still  breathed. 

In  the  morning  I  found  Ndova  dead.  He  looked 
as  if  he  were  asleep  under  his  blanket.  I  shouted  to 
Rogala  :  "  Ndova  is  dead."  Then  we  stood  mourn- 
fully by  his  side,  and  Rogala  said  with  a  sad  voice : 
"  Ndova  will  follow  us  no  more  in  the  forest." 

We  cut  a  big  log,  split  it  in  two,  and  dug  a  big 
hole  inside.  This  was  to  be  the  coffin  of  Ndova,  and 
we  laid  his  body  in  it. 

After  this  we  dug  a  grave  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  near 
Rogala's  house  and  collected  stones.  When  every- 
thing was  ready,  Rogala  and  I  carried  the  coffin  to  the 

176 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

grave,  followed  by  Shinshooko,  Alapal,  and  Akenda- 
Mbani. 

With  my  knife  I  carved  upon  the  bark  the  follow- 
ing inscription : 

HERE    LIES    NDOVA 
OUR    FRIEND 

Then  we  put  the  coffin  into  the  grave,  covered  it 
with  earth,  and  surrounded  it.  by  stones.  My  hunters 
and  I  hardly  spoke  to  each  other  that  day. 


17 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

I  GO  HUNTING  IN  THE  FOREST  WITH  ANDEKKO  — 
DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE  DOG  —  SOUNDS  OF  A  FIERCE 
CONFLICT  —  I  FIND  ANDEKKO  FIGHTING  WITH  A 
MANDRILL—  HE  KILLS  HIS  ENEMY,  BUT  DIES  OF  HIS 
WOUNDS—  BURIED    IN    THE    FOREST 

WE  felt  very  lonely  after  the  death  of  Ndova. 
But,  alas  !  his  loss  was  not  to  prove  our  only 
misfortune.  I  went  one  day  alone  into  the  forest  and 
took  Andekko  with  me.  After  walking  three  or  four 
miles  I  came  to  a  part  of  the  forest  where  there  was 
no  jungle.  Such  tracts  are  often  found,  especially 
where  water  has  been  long  standing  during  the  rainy 
season.  I  walked  consequently  noiselessly,  looking 
carefully  all  around  me  as   I  went. 

Andekko  had  disappeared  in  search  of  game.  After 
a  while  I  saw  three  large  mandrills,  the  largest  I  had 
ever  seen,  walking  away  from  me.  Mandrills  of  that 
size  are  very  formidable  animals  and  have  terrible 
canines.  They  were  out  of  sight,  and  I  had  been 
unable  to  shoot  at  them,  as  trees  were  in  my  way. 

I  kept  on,  nevertheless,  when  I  was  suddenly  startled 
by  the  fierce  barking  of  Andekko.     Then  I  heard  a 

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IN   AFRICAN    FOREST    AND   JUNGLE 

howl  of  pain  from  him,  followed  Immediately  by  a 
shrill  shriek  from  an  animal  which  I  thought  must  be 
one  of  the  mandrills  I  had  seen.  I  hurried  as  fast  as 
I  could  towards  the  place  whence  the  cries  came,  and 
once  more  I  heard  the  fierce  barking  of  Andekko. 

I  was  not  mistaken.  When  I  reached  him,  as  I 
soon  did,  Andekko  had  pinned  the  mandrill  down 
and  they  were  fighting  savagely.  Andekko  was  cov- 
ered with  blood.  One  of  his  ears  hung  limp.  He 
had  a  terrible  gash  in  his  back,  and  part  of  his  lower 
lip  was  badly  cut.  The  mandrill's  teeth  had  made  sad 
havoc  with  poor  Andekko. 

But  the  mandrill  lay  underneath  him  on  the  ground, 
the  blood  flowing  from  his  neck  profusely.  An- 
dekko's  teeth  had  probably  bitten  through  the  jugular 
vein.  But  what  big  teeth  the  mandrill  had !  When 
he  saw  me,  he  uttered  a  piercing  cry.  I  shouted  to 
Andekko  again  and  again,  but  he  did  not  heed  my 
voice  in  the  least.  He  glared  with  rage,  and  his  hair 
stood  up  straight  on  his  back.  Nothing  could  have 
made  him  give  up  his  prey.  He  had  hold  of  the 
mandrill  in  such  manner  that  the  latter  could  not  bite 
him.  They  rolled  on  the  ground  on  the  top  of  each 
other.  Andekko  clung  fast.  The  mandrill  tried  with 
his  feet  to  push  Andekko  off,  and  uttered  scream  after 
scream.      But  before  long  he  stopped,  and  at  last  all 

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IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

became  silent.  The  neck  of  the  mandrill  had  been  torn 
to  pieces.  The  rage  of  Andekko  was  so  great  that  it 
took  me  quite  a  while  to  make  him  loose  his  hold. 

The  mandrill  was  dead,  but  poor  Andekko  was 
a  terrible  sight.  I  said  to  him  :  "  Andekko,  you  are  a 
brave  and  fearless  dog."  Then  I  tore  some  strips 
from  my  shirt  and  bandaged  his  wounds  to  stop  their 
bleeding.  He  had  great  difficulty  in  following  me, 
he  was  so  weak.  I  walked  very  slowly.  At  last  we 
reached  the  camp,  and  it  was  hard  to  make  him  go 
through  the  aperture  made  in  the  fence  for  him  to  go 
out  and  come  in  at.  My  hunters  had  returned,  and 
we  all  felt  sorry  for  poor  Andekko.  He  seemed 
utterly  dejected.  We  made  a  bed  of  dry  leaves  for 
him  to  lie  upon,  and  boiled  some  monkey  meat  for 
him.  But  when  it  was  done  and  offered  to  him,  he 
refused  it.  Poor  Andekko  had  the  fever,  like  Ndova, 
and,  like  Ndova,  he  lingered  but  a  short  time.  We 
made  a  grave  for  him  outside  of  the  camp  at  the  foot 
of  a  tree,  and  we  buried  him  there. 

I  cut  upon  the  bark  with  my  knife  : 


HERE    LIES 

ANDEKKO    THE    BRAVE 

A    FAITHFUL    DOG 

TO    HIS    DEATH 


I  80 


"  Andekko   had  pinned  the   mandrill  down    and  they   w 
fighting  savagely.'' 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

OUR  PROVISIONS  FAIL  — ATTACKED  AGAIN  BY  BASHI- 
KOUAYS  —  RELEASE  OF  AKENDA-MBANI  FROM  HIS 
FETTERS  — HE  PROVES  A  GOOD  TRAPPER —  "  GOU- 
AMBa"—  MY  WAKING  VISIONS  —  ANOTHER  HUNTING 
EXPEDITION —WE  KILL  TWO  MONKEYS,  THEN  STARVE 
AGAIN 

BERRIES  and  nuts  had  become  very  scarce  and 
we  had  to  go  a  long  way  to  gather  them,  for 
those  that  were  near  our  camp  had  been  eaten.  Game 
had  also  become  very  scarce.  One  day  we  all  set 
out  for  the  depths  of  the  forest  together.  Before 
leaving  the  camp  we  made  signs  to  Akenda-Mbani 
that  we  were  going  after  food,  by  opening  our  mouths 
and  drawing  our  stomachs  in,  to  show  that  they 
were  empty.  He  evidently  understood  us,  for  he 
smiled. 

"  If  we  fail  to  find  food,"  said  Rogala,  "it  will  be 
on  account  of  witchcraft ;  yes,"  he  shouted,  "  it  will 
be  on  account  of  witchcraft.  I  have  always  suspected 
Okambi  of  being  a  sorcerer,  and  it  will  be  his  witch- 
craft that  will  cause  our  starving." 

i8i 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

"  Sh-sh-shj  Rogala/'  said  I,  "  if  you  speak  so  loud 
you  will  scare  the  game."  The  very  thought  of  witch- 
craft had  made  Rogala  forget  himself. 

Though  we  walked  all  day,  we  found  no  nuts  or 
berries  of  any  consequence.  The  season  of  the  koola 
nuts  was  nearly  over,  and  the  wild  boars  had  been 
under  the  trees  we  knew.  We  saved  some  of  such 
nuts  and  berries  as  we  found,  however,  for  Akenda- 
Mbani. 

Suddenly  we  were  attacked  by  the  dreaded  bashi- 
kouay  ants  and  had  to  flee  for  camp.  "  Let  us  hurry 
as  fast  as  we  can,  Rogala,"  said  I,  "for  Akenda-Mbani 
is  in  nchogo,  and  if  the  bashikouays  pass  that  way  he 
is  sure  to  be  devoured  by  them,  and  we  may  only  see 
his  skeleton  on  our  arrival." 

We  hurried  back  as  fast  as  our  legs  could  carry  us, 
and  it  was  a  good  thing  that  we  returned.  Otherwise 
we  should  surely  have  found  only  the  skeleton  of 
Akenda-Mbani,  as  I  had  said,  for  we  had  not  been  at 
home  an  hour  before  the  bashikouays  made  their 
appearance. 

Fortunately  we  were  ready  to  receive  them.  In  a 
number  of  places  within  our  enclosure  firewood  had 
been  piled  up  and  was  all  ready  to  be  lighted.  Water 
was  boiling  in  all  the  pots  we  had,  and  we  had  plenty 
of  hot  ashes.     The  smoke  prevented  the  bashikouays 

182 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

from  ascending  the  trees,  and  we  spread  hot  ashes 
wherever  they  appeared. 

After  this  I  said  to  Rogala :  "  We  must  take 
Akenda-Mbani  out  of  the  nchogo.  I  do  not  care 
whether  he  runs  away  or  not.  I  do  not  want  his 
death  on  my  head  or  on  yours.  The  Oguizi  wishes 
nobody  to  die.  Just  think  what  a  narrow  escape  he 
had  !      If  he  had  been  eaten  up  by  the  bashlkouays, 

t  would  have  been  our  fault.  It  will  never  do  to 
keep  a  man  In  nchogo  unless  some  one  is  near 
to  watch  him." 

"You  are    right,    Oguizi.      It    is    so;    it    is    so," 

le   repeated    half  a    dozen    times.     Then    he    added 

houghtfully :   "  Yes,    when    people    have    been    dis- 
covered to  be  wizards,  they  are  tied  to  a  tree  when 
the    bashlkouays  are  in   the  neighborhood,  and  in  a 
'^.hort  time  nothing  is  left  of  them  but  their  bones." 
So    Rogala  and  I   took  Akenda-Mbani  out  of  his 

ichogos,  first  freeing  his  hands,  and  then  his  feet. 
I  felt  now  quite  happy,  for  Akenda-Mbani  was  free, 

md  if  we  had  been  sure  of  him  at  first  he  would  not 
have  been  placed  in  nchogo  at  all.  He  was  now  one 
of  us.  The  next  day  we  all  went  again  into  the  forest 
in  search  of  firewood,  and  without  being  told  to  do  so, 
Akenda  took  a  heavy  load  on  his  back,  and  carried  it 
to  the  camp.     The  day  following,  he  went  into  the 

183 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

forest  by  himself,  and  set  traps  for  game,  coming  back 
with  a  porcupine  and  a  pangoHn  or  ant-eater.  So 
plenty  was  in  the  camp  once  more  for  the  moment. 
The  porcupine  meat  is  very  good,  the  pangolin's  was 
very  strong. 

But  when  these  were  eaten,  no  more  game  was 
trapped,  and  we  again  boiled  some  of  the  antelope 
skin. 

I  had  such  a  "gouamba  "  —  that  is,  such  a  longing 
for  meat — ^that  the  nuts  and  the  boiled  antelope  skin 
became  loathsome  to  me.  I  ate  them  just  as  a 
man  would  eat,  day  after  day,  bread  soaked  in  water. 
What  a  fearful  meaning  there  is,  I  said  to  myself, 
"in  that  native  word  'gouamba' !  "  I  spent  hours  in 
a  sort  of  waking  dream  in  which  I  fancied  that  I  had 
returned  home,  and  had  met  many  friends,  one  after 
another,  as  I  walked  about  the  streets.  The  first  one 
would  say:  "  Hello,  is  that  you,  Paul  ?  Welcome  home. 
Won't  you  dine  with  me  to-day  ?  My  wife  and 
children  will  be  so  glad  to  see  you  back  again.  We 
have  roast  beef  to-night." 

Then,  in  a  moment,  I  found  myself  at  the  family 
table.  A  big,  juicy  piece  of  roast  beef  was  before  my 
eyes  on  the  table.  I  saw  my  friend  cut  the  roast  beef. 
A  big  piece  was  served  to  me.  I  was  then  asked  if  I 
would  have  sweet  potatoes,  corn,  and  other  vegetables. 

184 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

I  could  see  the  smoke  rise  from  these  hot  dishes. 
How  I  enjoyed  the  pudding  and  the  ice-cream  at  the 
end  of  the  dinner  ! 

I  went  out  and  met  another  friend  who  also  asked  me 
to  dinner.  This  one  had  turkey  mstead  of  roast  beef 
How  I  looked  at  the  turkey  !  It  had  been  roasted  to 
a  nicety,  and  was  a  rich  brown  all  over.  Then  my 
friend  asked :  "  Paul,  which  piece  do  you  like  best  ^  *' 
To  which  I  answered  :  "  I  have  no  choice."  Then  a 
large  piece  was  put  on  a  plate  for  me  with  the  stuffing. 
The  waitress  would  pass  the  cranberry  sauce,  then  the 
potatoes  and  the  green  peas.  How  good  all  these 
tasted !  Then  came  the  strawberries  and  the  ice- 
cream. Then  more  dinners,  with  other  friends. 
How  I  enjoyed  these  in  my  imagination !  Then 
hunger  would  stop,  and  then  come  back  with  ten  times 
greater  force.  We  drank  as  much  water  as  we  could, 
for  there  is  nourishment  in  water. 

Akenda-Mbani  went  to  look  after  his  traps  one  day, 
and  Rogala  and  I  went  hunting.  We  were  in  des- 
perate straits.  We  had  gone  quite  a  distance  from  the 
camp,  and  had  seen  nothing,  when  suddenly  I  thought 
I  heard  something  in  the  distance.  I  gave  a  "  click." 
As  soon  as  Rogala  heard  it  he  stopped  and  then  came 
to  my  side.  I  had  heard,  as  I  thought,  monkeys 
leaping  from  tree  to  tree.     We  stood   still,  and   the 

185 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

noise  became  gradually  louder.  The  monkeys  were 
evidently  coming  in  our  direction.  Hope  of  food 
loomed  before  our  eyes.  Then  all  became  silent; 
the  monkeys  had  manifestly  stopped  upon  some  fruit- 
bearing  trees,  and  were  feeding.  At  such  times  they 
are  always  still,  for  they  do  not  want  to  attract  the 
attention  of  other  monkeys. 

We  went  in  the  direction  where  we  thought  they 
were,  looking  at  the  tops  of  the  trees  as  we  went  along. 
After  a  while  we  heard  nuts  falling  on  the  ground. 
Soon  we  came  under  the  tree,  and  pulp  and  seeds 
fell  upon  our  heads  and  all  around  us.  Looking  up, 
we  saw  the  monkeys.  I  counted  seventeen  of  them; 
they  were  nkagos,  and  were  so  busy  eating  that  they 
did  not  notice  us. 

We  picked  out  two  of  the  biggest,  aimed  at  them 
carefully,  and  fired.  They  fell  on  the  ground  with  a 
great  crash.  In  the  meantime  the  troop  gave  a  shrill 
cry  of  fear  and  decamped  with  the  utmost  speed,  and 
for  a  long  time  afterwards  we  could  hear  the  noise 
of  the  branches  as  they  rose  again  after  the  monkeys 
had  leaped  to  others.  When  they  thought  they  were 
far  from  danger,  they  stopped  and  uttered  the  peculiar 
nkago  cry,  calling  upon  their  missing  companions  ; 
but  no  answer  came  back  to  them,  for  our  two  monkeys 
were  stone  dead. 

1 86 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST    AND   JUNGLE 

They  kept  calling  again  and  again,  however,  for 
a  time ;  then  at  last  we  heard  nothing  more.  We 
swung  the  monkeys  over  our  backs,  and  had  regained 
the  hunting  path  leading  towards  our  camp,  when  1 
thought  I  heard  a  slight  noise  on  a  tree.  I  looked 
up,  thinking  a  bird  had  made  it,  when  to  my  surprise 
I  saw  a  monkey  looking  down  upon  us.  He  was  a 
nkago,  and  was  following  his  dead  mate,  and  looking 
down  upon  her  in  deep  silence.  I  could  see  his 
human-like  eyes  watching  us.  He  had  wondered 
why  his  call  had  not  been  answered  by  her,  had  left 
the  troop  to  seek  her,  and  then  seen  her  lifeless  form 
on  the  back  of  Rogala.  He  seemed  to  know  that 
something  was  wrong.  I  would  have  given  a  good 
deal  to  know  his  thoughts. 

We  continued  on  our  way.  The  monkey  kept 
following  us,  watching,  peeping  down  upon  us 
and  upon  his  dead  mate.  When  we  stopped,  he 
stopped,  his  eyes  always  looking  down  upon  us.  I 
see  them  still  to  this  day.  I  was  so  sorry  I  had 
killed  his  mate.  I  noticed  that  he  never  jumped 
from  one  limb  of  a  tree  to  another,  but  crept  along 
their  trunks  and  branches,  evidently  wishing  to  make 
no  noise  to  attract  attention.  He  followed  us  to 
our  camp.  I  could  not  tell  why,  but  I  did  not  feel 
like    eating    monkey   that    evening,  for   I    thought   I 

187 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

had  never  in  an  animal  seen  eyes  with  such  a  human 
expression.  The  next  morning  I  saw  him  for  an  in- 
stant ;  he  was  still  looking  for  his  mate.  But  that 
was  my  last  glimpse  of  him.  He  probably  went 
back  to  his  troop. 


i88 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

DECIDE  TO  BREAK  UP  OUR  CAMP  AND  RETURN  — 
ARRIVAL  AT  ROGALa's  HOME— I  MAKE  MYSELF  A 
PAIR  OF  SKIN  TROUSERS— DEPARTURE  FOR  RO- 
TEMBO'S  VILLAGE  —  OUR  GRAND  RECEPTION  AND 
SUCCEEDING  FESTIVITIES  —  ROTEMBO's  PROMISE  — 
FAREWELL 

THE  monkey  meat  did  not  last  more  than  two 
days.     Then  food  became  as  scarce  as  before. 
We  had  clearly  exhausted  that  part  of  the  forest. 

"The  times  are  hard  with  us,"  I  said  to  Rogala ; 
"  the  bashikouays  have  driven  the  game  away.  There 
are  no  more  koola  nuts.  Let  us  go  back  to  your 
home,  where  we  shall  find  plenty  of  plantain  and 
cassava." 

Rogala  agreed  readily  to  my  proposal.  The  two 
following  days  we  rested  and  made  preparations  for 
our  departure.  I  was  very  glad  to  return  to  the 
home  of  my  hunters.  My  clothes  were  in  tatters ; 
hardly  anything  was  left  of  my  trousers ;  I  had 
worn  out  all  my  shoes ;  my  old  panama  hat  was 
a  sight. 

189 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

Joyfully  we  left  our  old  forest  camp,  and  after  an 
uneventful  journey  we  reached  the  home  of  my 
hunters.  It  was  time  indeed.  How  well  I  slept  in 
my  little  hut  that  night!  All  the  things  I  had  left 
behind  were  exactly  in  the  same  place.  No  one  had 
touched  them. 

I  had  saved  skins  of  the  gazelles  we  had  killed,  and 
I  sewed  them  together  first ;  then  I  took  what  was  left 
of  my  trousers  and  put  them  on  the  skins  and  marked 
out  the  pattern  with  charcoal.  Then  I  cut  up  the 
skins  and  sewed  with  my  big  needle,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  day  I  had  made  a  pair  of  skin  trousers.  I  also 
covered  my  old  shoes  with  gazelle  skin. 

When  I  had  furnished  myself  with  something  to 
wear,  we  prepared  to  return  to  Chief  Rotembo.  All 
my  hunters  and  Akenda-Mbani  were  to  accompany 
me.  Many  bunches  of  plantain  were  collected;  the 
men  went  hunting  and  killed  an  antelope  for  Ro- 
tembo, and  the  following  morning  we  left,  one  canoe 
loaded  with  the  skins  and  bones  of  the  animals  I  had 
killed  and  with  the  birds  I  had  stuffed. 

After  a  pleasant  trip  down  the  Ogobai,  we  arrived  at 
the  village  of  Rotembo  amid  the  firing  of  guns  and 
the  beating  of  the  tomtoms. 

The  news  quickly  spread  that  the  Oguizi  had 
returned,    and    many    people    came    flocking    to    our 

190 


"y//  the  end  of  the  day  I  had  made  a  pair  of  skin  trousers r 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND    JUNGLE 

village.  Canoe  after  canoe  was  to  be  seen  coming 
from  up  or  down  the  river  all  the  time. 

Then  a  great  meeting  took  place.  Rotembo  was 
dressed  in  state,  and  made  a  great  speech,  saying  how 
much  he  loved  me.  The  crowd  shouted,  "  Great  is 
Rotembo,  the  friend  of  the  Oguizi  !  Great  is  the 
Oguizi ! ''     Tomtoms  beat  and  guns  were  fired. 

Then  I  arose,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  profound  silence 
I  made  a  speech.  "  Rotembo,"  I  said,  "  I  love  you 
and  your  people.  When  I  was  hungry  you  gave  me 
food ;  when  I  was  thirsty  you  gave  me  water.  You 
gave  me  shelter  and  nothing  was  stolen  from  me.*' 
At  these  words  a  great  shout  of  joy  arose.  The  tom- 
toms beat  furiously,  and  more  guns  were  fired. 

"  You  gave  me  Rogala,  your  faithful  slave,''  I  con- 
tinued ;  "  I  bring  him  back  to  you.  There  are  Shin- 
shooko  and  Alapai  also,  your  faithful  slaves,  who  love 
you.  They  with  their  wives  and  children  have  been 
kind  to  me.  There  is  Akenda-Mbani,  whom  we 
found  in  the  forest.  Now,  Rotembo,  you  are  my 
friend."  (All  shouted,  "  He  is  your  friend  !  ") 
"  Never  let  one  of  these  men  or  their  wives  be  sold." 

"  I  will  never  sell  them,"  cried  Rotembo. 

Then  the  great  meeting  broke  up.  Rotembo  and  his 
people  drank  a  great  quantity  of  fermented  drinks  they 
had  made  to  celebrate  my  return.     There  was  a  grand 

191 


IN    AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

ball  which  lasted  all  night.  Rotembo  himself  danced, 
and  came  before  me  singing  and  dancing  in  the  midst 
of  vociferous  cheers  by  the  people. 

The  next  day  I  prepared  a  great  feast  that  Rotembo 
and  I  were  to  eat  together.  The  bottom  of  our  canoe 
was  to  be  our  table.  Rogala,  Shinshooko,  Alapai,  and 
Akenda-Mbani  were  seated  at  a  table  close  to  ours. 
Rotembo's  wives  waited  upon  us.  A  mass  of  people 
formed  a  great  circle  round  us,  and  looked  at  us,  and 
one  of  them  said :  "  The  great  Oguizi  loves  also 
Rogala  and  Shinshooko,  Alapai  and  Akenda-Mbani." 

In  the  evening  I  called  my  hunters  together,  and 
gave  each  a  new  gun,  powder,  and  some  iron  bars.  I 
gave  them  beads  for  their  wives  also,  and  the  next  day 
I  accompanied  them  to  their  canoe  and  bade  them 
good-bye.  They  felt  sad  to  leave  me,  and  as  they 
embarked,  Rogala  said  :  Oguizi,  come  again  to  see  us 
at  our  plantation." 

The  people  believed  that  I  had  killed  Andekko  and 
Ndova  to  take  them  with  me,  and  wondered  why  I 
had  not  killed  my  hunters  to  take  them  with  me  also. 
"When  they  die,"  said  they,  "the  Oguizi  will  take 
them  with  him,  for  he  loves  them." 

Two  days  afterwards,  I  bade  good-bye  to  Rotembo. 
He  invoked  the  spirits  of  his  ancestors,  and  came  to 
the  shore  to  see  me  off.      He  had  given  me  people 

192 


IN   AFRICAN    FOREST   AND   JUNGLE 

and  a  canoe  to  take  me  to  another  part  of  the  great 
forest,  to  a  great  king  who  was  his  father-in-law. 
And  with  the  stars  and  stripes  floating  at  the  stern  of 
my  canoe  I  was  paddled  out  of  sight  of  Rotembo  and 
his  village. 


13 


193 


^itp  Due 


c<     / 


